Packard Reviews

The style of this book makes a gem if you can find it. The regular choose your own adventure style has about 100- 180 pgs. and 10- 12 endings, some good (happily ever after) and some bad (you were eaten, thanks for playing) in regular choose your own adventure, you may only visit a page once and then make a choice out of two to three different pages. The book by Edward packard, however lets you visit a place more than once in your journey [each page represents a different place on the island of tenopia] when you reach a page it asks whether or not you have been here before. this allows you to ask people you met last time for any more information that they have learned in the time you were gone. This book has a great story-line and ends with you finding your way to the next book in the series.

Having been interested in adventure stories and the Choose your own Adventure series as a child, I picked up this book. What a great book - it combines elements of adventure, strange folk, and critical thinking/decision making. It's also virtually non-linear, making the reread value of this book high. I loved the fact that one could read this book, encountering so many different people and places, for days without getting bored or to the book's ending. I consider this the best of the Escape series, but the other three books aren't without their charm.
Whether one book, two books or the whole Escape series, this makes an excellent present for any child book-lover.

This is a great adventure book. I grew up with "Choose your own adventure" books. But the 'Escape' series was always my favorite. Instead of the usual pick from two or three questions and go to this page you actually have to travel around the Island of Tenopia with the help of a map decoder to find your way out. The coolest feature of this book is that if you happen to go to the same place twice something different happens. You might get new clues or helpful information the second time around. Basically this book feeds your imagination and it is very, very fun.

The African American has come a long way, or have they? American Nightmare: The History of Jim Crow by Jerrold M. Packard chronicles the very beginnings of the well know, well established Jim Crow system developed in America decades ago. It was a successful system that put into place, laws which kept the African America a second-class citizen even after slavery was abolished. The purpose was to keep sacred and separate any person of color from becoming equal to the white establishment.

American Nightmare is an intense historical recollection of Jim Crow years and the plight of the African American. It is a powerful book and Mr. Jerrold very skillfully details in length the root causes, the rationale, the religious and educational aspects, and the dismantling of the vicious Jim Crow system. This book reminds us how devastating this era was and that we should never allow anything resembling this degrading system to ever surface again.

I applaud Jerrold M. Packard for producing a book that reminds us all of who we are and where we are today. It is an historical and educational guide of the past, present, and for the future of America to strengthen its human rights policies to insure that all citizens are treated equal. As mentioned earlier, the African American has come a long way or have they? Read American Nightmare: The History of Jim Crow and you decide for yourself.

Reviewed by Kalaani

_American Nightmare: The History of Jim Crow_ (St. Martin's) by Jerrold Packard is in many ways a difficult book to read, for while the picayune and artificial rules by which blacks were kept in their place in the South are now so obviously stupid, they were for years maintained by whites and endured by blacks. As Packard says, this is a history of the worst of America, an examination of how poorly it had lived up to the ideals for which it really stands. There is also inspiration here, in the courage of black Americans who were able to achieve basic justice out of oppression. There is also some need for congratulation; we have not achieved harmony between the races, but the egregious practices described here will never come back.

There was hardly a part of society that the Jim Crow laws or customs did not control. Naturally, the rules were different in different places (leading to confusion for black people who traveled anywhere), but the examples given in the book will remind Southerners who are old enough just how strange the system was. There might be two lines for movie tickets, if blacks were allowed in the theater, and if they were, they had to sit upstairs. In North Carolina and Florida, officials insisted that schoolbooks used by blacks had to be stored in different spaces than those used by whites. Sometimes a town library might have a room for black users, but often they were barred from the library altogether. A 1900 Mississippi law allowed black corpses to be dug up from white cemeteries and sent to black ones. Whereas slaves could have gone to white churches, within a specified section, free blacks were barred from white congregations, who were told that such discrimination was decreed by God himself. Streetcar and bus conductors were given police power to enforce seating regulations; in some places, the front of a streetcar was regarded as the place for inferiors, prompting a white person to remark on the variant: "It isn't important which end of the car is given to a nigger. The main point is that he must sit where he is told." Of course Jim Crow ruled on housing, schooling, and voting. Eventually, Packard demonstrates, the economic and social forces from World War II, and the glare of international embarrassment, provided important reasons for the nation to make changes.

Whatever forms of racism remain, Jim Crow is dead, killed by hundreds of heroic acts large and small. Thus Packard's final chapters are inspiring, showing Rosa Parks refusing to surrender a bus seat to a white passenger in 1955, and the resultant Montgomery, Alabama, bus boycott. A preacher named Martin Luther King, Jr., was launched into leadership by the boycott, which grew into a movement of freedom riding, lunch counter sit-ins, and voting registration drives. It was no easy victory; though the blacks were constantly accused of violence, they were the victims, not the culprits, of church bombings, lynchings, and police dog attacks. Equal treatment should not have been so long denied, and this battle never should have had to happen, but it is in the end a victorious tale. Packard reflects upon the ambiguous lesson that many young people in the south now have no idea what Jim Crow means, and are astounded to learn how ubiquitous it was. His book is a useful and compelling history of the institution, a reminder that understanding the past will help us confront the current challenges of race relations.

Originally titled "The Mystery of Chimney Rock" when it first hit the stores in 1982 (and WHY Bantam Books felt the need to re-title most of the first 10 books in the series in the early '90s is beyond me), this is a fun, scary (if you're 10 or under, as I was at the time) ride for younger readers. The whole sub-plot about the cat is interesting and a true twist ending. Read it and enjoy--and try to get your hands on the original if you can! ...Notorious

This book is very chilling and very spooky. Even at age 15 I enjoyed it! (Although I haven't the slightest idea why it's name was changed!)

When Packard wrote this book he must've been obsessed with mice. The book is full of 'em and sometimes you're one of them. During the course of this book you find yourself in an old haunted house that's inhabited by a witch. More of a "escape the curse" type of book, there are no ghosts in the story. The only evil is the witch and her cat. It's a good book if you like to read about sneaking around a house where there's a good chance that you'll either be dead or marked for life. But if it's mystery you want, look somewhere else.

On your vacation in CT you notice a huge, empty stone house at the top of the hill. Some of the windows are boarded up. Some are covered with vines. The old house, known at "Chimney Rock," is so dark and gloomy that most people won't go near it.

But you are the curious type. Should you see for yourself what's inside? Your cousin urges you to go ahead.

What will you do....you choose.

Fans of the "Choose Your Own Adventure" series will want to pick this one up if they ever see it in libraries or used bookstores. This is the series in its early prime, with originator Edward Packard at the helm. He creates a plausible haunted house with a somewhat original cat-and-mouse theme, some genuine terror for kids, and a fine atmosphere.

As a sixth grade teacher, I rarely see my students as fired up to read a novel as they are about the Choose Your Own Adventure series, especially The Mystery of Chimney Rock. They beg me to read to them and often fight over what few copies I have. Kids love to feel like they are in charge of something important and exciting, especially at the middle school age. The Mystery of Chimney Rock is consistent and doesn't contradict itself no matter how your story comes out. The circumstances the reader chooses dictate the action, not the author's manipulating the characters to influence the story. Suspenseful and nailbiting! Students feel genuinely involved and downright nervous as to whether they will live or die in the book.

This isn't the best Choose Your Own Adventure book, but one of the best. It follows a good plot, and it has a mild amount of action. The best part of the book is probably the Tour of America race. That part is well written and follows a good sequence of events.

So overall, this is a pretty good book, but, as I said earlier, not the best. Still, give it a try. You may like it.

I would love to fly in the air and be the best biker with the best bike and do amazing things. Although I do have a pretty good bike.

My son received this book for his 3rd birthday. I am now going to buy it for his friend's birthday. This book is a magnet for children. They love the fact that the book comes with little animal pieces that they can take out and play with and put into the book! The illustrations are adorable and the text is simple and educational (mostly about animal sounds). The only reason I didn't rate this book 5 stars is because the neat way the pieces are stored (behind a little sliding panel on the front cover--which is really cute and ingenious), has been torn a couple of times (I've had to glue and then tape the front cover). Little 2 and 3 year olds cannot easily get the pieces out on their own. With a little help and practice they can learn to, but until then the front cover can be quickly torn up.

This is a very unique book. My 2 year old daughter loves animals and books. This book not only teaches about the animals but allows the child to play with the book. The animal shaped pieces fit onto the correct page and again at the end...which teaches dexterity and problem solving skills! My daughter couldn't put this book down. It is wonderful to carry in the diaper bag for those times when your little one needs to play quietly somewhere! Very interactive book...my daughter takes the animal pieces and plays in her own imaginative way, too!

This book is painfully thorough in covering the subject of national neutrality during World War II of Switzerland, Sweden, Spain, Portugal, and Ireland. Jerrold Packard shares telegrams, letters, etc. with you showing why these countries were able to maintain their national neutrality. The author also reveals the very unneutral things done by these counties in order to continue to exist. This book is almost boring in the detail that the writer is willing to share with you. I would not dare recommend that you repeat my mistake - reading it straight through - but I would recommend this book highly for research purposes.

Jerrold Packard tackles the uneviable task of having to sort out how five very different countries managed to stay neutral during World War II. Packard gives a country by country view in a concise chronology. Packard is not an appologist for any of these countries and in light of the controversy regarding Switzerland's role during the war it's very timely. Packard provides great insight into how precarious the situation was for all five countries in light of the presure from not only the Axis powers but the Allies. Packard touches on some of the complicity between Sweden, Switzerland and Spain with regard to the Germans but fails to delve in too deeply. It's a shame this was written before the Swiss controversy became more public, but in fairness that's a book in itself. The thumbnail sketches of the principals shows they were truly equals of Machiavelli and learned how to survive in precarious times.

For anyone who likes to view World War II history from the "road less traveled", "Neither Friend Nor Foe" is a excellent selection. From a distance we see the big picture of an historical event, without noticing the distortions apparent on closer inspection. In World War II, the big picture is that all of Europe ganged up on the evil Fascists in Germany and Italy, except for a few sacrosanct neutrals, such as Switzerland and Sweden. As "Neither Friend Nor Foe" points out, this is not the whole truth.

At the start of World War II there were four belligerent states: Germany, Poland, France and the United Kingdom. Every other European state declared its neutrality. Only five would maintain that neutrality throughout the war: Switzerland, Sweden, Spain, Portugal and Ireland. This book is the story of how each of them avoided the ravages of war by a careful and varying balancing of relations with the powers warring around them.

I suspect that most people view the neutrality of Switzerland as an accepted fact of European politics. In this book, Jerrold Packard shows how it was jeopardized in World War II. In cooperation with the Nazi program to unite all German people under one Reich, Pro-Nazi political parties in Switzerland supported the incorporation of at least the German speaking cantons of Switzerland into that Reich. The Swiss tradition of hospitality toward the refuges from its neighbors s an irritant to Germany. What ultimately saved Swiss neutrality was the fact that it was of more value to Germany as an independent nation than it would have been as a conquered one. The Swiss had a plan to destroy its industrial facilities and defend its "Fortress Switzerland" would have rendered useless an essential source of supply to the Germany. Switzerland survived the war as a neutral site for clandestine meetings between belligerents as well as an industrial supplier to the German war machine, at prices dictated by the purchaser. As the tide of war flowed in the Allies' favor, the Swiss willingness to supply Germany diminished proportionately.

The Swedish situation was similar to that of Switzerland, in that its willingness to supply the German war machine with the output of its industry provided it with a degree of security. One concession to German arms was as its permission for German forces to cross its territory to attack Norway As with Switzerland, Sweden shifted its allegiance as the fortunes of battle changed.

Portugal had been a long time ally of Britain. It was caught between the traditional British Alliance and a newfound Iberian identity. The threat of British invasion of the Portuguese colonies and Iberia itself versus the danger of substituting German vassalage for a British one was a strong inducement for Portugal to keep Iberia neutral.

Spain is, in some ways the most interesting of the neutrals. Exhausted from its Civil War in which Germany and Italy had provided assistance to the Fascists, Franco nevertheless resisted strong German pressure to enter the war as a belligerent. It did provide some aid to Germany, such as allowing naval use of the Canary islands.

Ireland is unique among the neutrals in that it was located squarely in the British sphere of influence. Irish neutrality was a result, in large measure, of continued hostility to an Empire from which it had won its independence only 20 years before. The tradition of Ireland as an route to invasion of Britain was also an important consideration. A major Anglo-Irish issue was the use of the Treaty Ports on which Britain had long relied to support its naval defense into the Atlantic. Had not Britain surrendered its rights a year before the war started, Prime Minister De Valera knew that Ireland would have been considered a legitimate British military target and Irish neutrality would have lasted little longer than that of the Low Countries. Throughout the war, De Valera played the card of tweaking the British noses both to convince Germany of the fact of Irish neutrality and to warm the hearts of Irish nationalists.

In today's climate, any want of vigor in opposing Nazism is considered cause for condemnation. In light of the devastation suffered by the European belligerents, I think that the leaders who saved their nations from the ravages of war were leaders who served their countries well.

Which individuals emerge as the most memorable leaders among the neutrals? I nominate Franco as the hero. Indebted to Hitler and Mussolini and envious of Gibraltar, an entry into the war as an Axis would have seemed to have been a natural course for him to follow. I suspect that it took tremendous courage to save Spain from another dose of the agony of war.

I evaluate Eamon De Valera's record as the most mixed. His visit to the German Ambassador to extend the condolences of the Irish nation on the death of Adolph Hitler may have carried protocol to an unnecessary extreme. In his address to the Irish nation in response to Winston Churchill's victory message, he may have provided the most memorable utterance by a neutral. The address reached its high point with the inquiry:

"Mr. Churchill is proud of Britain's stand alone...Could he not find in his heart the generosity to acknowledge that there is a small nation that stood alone not for one year or two but for several hundred years of aggression, that endured spoliation, famines, massacres, in endless succession, that was clubbed many times into insensibility but that each time on returning to consciousness took up the fight anew, a small nation that could never be got to accept defeat and has never surrendered its soul."

This is a rousing conclusion to a splendid book.

A detailed history of one the best cars made in america and my personal all-time favorite The pictures are almost too good to be true

The book is mainly photographs, many published in other books and magazines. However, that does not mean that this is a bad book. It is, in fact, the only reasonable way to get photographs of rare and unique models like Hearses, Buses, and custom bodied cars. Each model year has a 1-2 page description of changes and highlights of the model year. For the most part, these are weak. Buy the book for the photographs!

As with all of the Crestline series, this book has a solid summary of the history of the car. But, those photos, buy it for the photos. In fact, buy all of the crestline care series books for they are all great!

Having recently re-read this book, I find it's explanations of various concepts relatively clear, if a little verbose. The book is 50% of the time quite good at explaining something, and 50% of the time exceedingly dull and tedious, obviously large parts of boilerplate text must have been cutted and pasted into various parts of the text.

What the book does not give you, is an introduction to concurrent programming. This is a pity, because most programmers aren't especially well trained in tackling concurrent programming. The mindset involved is different, and formal proofs suddenly becomes more important than debugging.

To make matters worse, the examples in the book is completely and utterly useless. In the first half of the book, they typically exercise one API function at the time, with 5 lines of comments per api call. In the latter half, sometime, you can see a few API calls in sequence, but none of the examples in the book will help you getting ideas for how to structure a complete multithreaded application.

On the bright side, to someone already knowledgeable about concurrent programming, the discussions in the book of the same issues related to pthreads make it possible to gain a thorough understanding of how to program pthreads safely.

Would I recommend the book? Yes, I am not aware of that many other pthreads books, but this book clearly has a lot of useful content. But it certainly has a split personality. Half the time, targetting the idiot who can't even figure out how to call an api function given the prototype and a description of it's semantics, and half the time giving actual useful information on issues regarding the use of pthreads and its interaction with processes, signals, and other parts of the unix environment.

Best book I've seen on the subject of POSIX thread programming. My only criticism is that the examples are lame. They excercise the API calls described in the preceeding text without adding any helpful context, insight, or details.

The author would have done better to provide one or two fairly complex case studies as examples, with analysis of their design process and tradeoffs. Instead there are small examples of every little detail of the API, that they add nothing of value to the book.

That criticism aside, it is a well-written, useful book, which I highly recommend.

This seems to be the only good book I have come across on the basics of thread programming. Focused on POSIX, comparison is provided between process and threads, which slowly but surely convinces the reader the significance of using threads and also, when to use them. Finally, the best feature I liked was that each topic is discussed and then the use is illustrated by a small independent program (sometimes 'extern' functions have been used which might require use of a previous source code). Overall, best book I have come across for getting introduced to thread programming. If there are even better ones ( beginners level) I am interested to know.