Crushed

Book Description

CRUSHED is Jason's second book. It's about sadness and humor. The photographs were taken over the last few years in the United States, Canada, France, Hungary, India, Iceland, China and Romania.

Customer Reviews:

the color trend .......2006-06-12

unlike a previous reviewer, i DO get this work, and it's OK. my major problem is that the work comes off as cute and hipper-than-thou. this style of work is rather trendy, the question being whether that's a declining or inclining trend. for me, i hope the work finds its proper place, and doesn't reach the front lines of art.

A Book of Looks.......2006-04-11

As a visual arts professional since 1989, particularly dealing with photography, I have seen a lot of really good and incredibly bad art books. With most being outrageously expensive it takes quite a bit for me to spend my money on them. Having grown sick of photography and its lack of visual progress, I have over the last six years turned my back on it and related books. This is the first photography book I have purchased in a very long time and am glad I did. This monograph is wonderfully published from the tipped in plates front and back to the beautiful reproductions inside; this book surpasses some more costly ones (it's design is reminiscent of William Eggleston's Guide). This is, in fact, not the most minimal art book ever published, I think that would go to Richard Misrach's first book of desert photographs which was published with only an ISBN number.

This is a book of images taken 1997-2001 by the author in such far-ranging locales as the US, China, India, Canada, Iceland, and Transylvania. There is no explicatory text, just the identifying titles listed at the end. I personally do not have a problem with the "titles" not being shown next to the image because, in the end, they don't matter. The images transcend their physical locale and become anywhere, anytime images; they are more global than local. In addition, the lack of titles keeps the viewer/reader from potential influence about how they may read an image knowing where it was made; the lack of titles helps the viewer/reader come to a completely unbiased interpretation of the image. The lack of immediate titling forces one to really look at each image and consider it on an aesthetic level instead of mere geographic location.

It's difficult to pinpoint Fulford's visual influence for there are images reminiscent of a number today's leading photographers: William Eggleston,Rineke Dijkstra, Alec Soth, Stephen Shore, and Susan Lipper. A common theme running through the book...um, not really sure but these images are all very quiet and sometime melancholy, sometimes humorous. Oh wait, I know...the theme is: life! This is really very apparent. These images give us what photography shows us best - the moment between the next moment. All we have to do is take the time to recognize these moments and their simple beauty.

Maybe I'm Being Dense, But I Just Don't Get It .......2006-02-04

(I revised my February 2006 review to address points in an April 10, 2006, review on this page.) The 10/2005 issue of Photo District News, a magazine for professional photographers, named this one of the "most captivating and influential photography books" from 1999-2004. In an interview on the Web, photographer Jason Fulford said "this book is about the simultaneous feeling of sad and funny," which was intriguing. So I thought I would buy a copy.

This hardcover (ISBN 0-9701656-7-6) measures 23 cm high by 18 cm wide. The covers and the pastedown endpapers are illustrated with four photos not found in the body of the book.

The first page has a quotation "It's only a game, but it's the only game" by the character Emmett Creed in a 1972 novel "End Zone" by Don DeLillo. After that are almost 100 pages containing 60 color photos, each 11.5 cm square. The photographs were taken 1997-2001 in the United States (accounting for just over half the photos), Canada, China, France, Hungary, Iceland, India, and Romania. Blank pages are interspersed apparently randomly among the pages with photos. The last two pages give locations and dates for the 64 photos (which are difficult to use because the photos on the interior pages are unnumbered!*), as well as copyright information.

Overall, I'm not as favorably impressed as PDN's editors. Some photos are either funny or sad, like #13 with the couple putting their heads through holes in a sculpture to pose as king & queen of the sea; #21 with the single car in the parking lot covered with snow; #33 with people in a park in the shadow of a palm tree; and #46 with hairy guys. I see some recurring themes: tree trunks on wallpaper in #1, real tree trunks in #4; plastic lamb in #11, flock of lambs in #34; crushed cars in #15 and #28; a tiger print on sheets in #16, a stuffed tiger in #50; plastic(?) white horse in #17, real(?) white horse in #53; brown paint on bricks in #42, brown towels in #43; etc.

But I find no theme or sequence linking all the photos. Furthermore, most of the photos are just uninteresting. The photos are not beautiful in a painterly sense like Eggleston's, nor are they poignant like Dijkstra's or Soth's. Susan Lipper's books show far more insight into humanity. For example, her "Grapevine" (1994) documents a town in West Virginia with photographs and interviews; her "Trip" (1999) consists of road trip photos with a text by Frederick Barthelme. In my mind, this book is most reminiscent of Stephen Shore's books (like "American Surfaces" and "Uncommon Places"), which I consider mundane and over-rated.

Per the publisher's Web site, the book is limited to an edition of 3,000; I'm wondering if all those copies will ever be sold.

* In the aforementioned interview, Fulford states that the location info "seemed relevant in order to say that this book is not about any one region or country," but to accomplish that goal it would have been better to either: (1) randomly list the 64 locations, or (2) state only something like "the photos were taken in North America, Asia, and Europe."

Bitter Rose: Color Me Crushed (TrueColors Series #8)

Average customer rating:

Family Feud
Divorce Court!
Divorce Court!
Outstanding book, wonderfully done...
Bitter Rose

Bitter Rose: Color Me Crushed (TrueColors Series #8)
Melody Carlson
Manufacturer: Th1nk Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Ages 9-12 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

Divorce | Issues | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

General | Literature & Fiction | Teens | Subjects | Books
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Blade Silver: Color Me Scarred (TrueColors Series #7)
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Bright Purple: Color Me Confused (TrueColors Series #10)
Burnt Orange: Color Me Wasted (TrueColors Series #5)

ASIN: 1576835367

Book Description

Maggie struggles to stay strong as her home life suddenly starts to disintegrate, when her parents split up.-

Customer Reviews:

Family Feud.......2007-08-07

Maggie's family is going through a very rough time. Her parents have separated and on the verge of getting a divorce. Their bitterness spreads to Maggie who wants her parents to get back together and realize that they can work things out. But this won't happen because Maggie blames her mom for her dad leaving. Feeling as though her family has failed her, she turns to her aunt with whom she can share her true feelings with. However when the truth about her parents' split comes out and a tragedy strikes the family, Maggie has to learn whether she really wants this bitterness to take control of her life.

Once again, Melody Carlson focuses on another subject that is touchy among the Christian church. Divorce is not something a lot of people like to talk about. Therefore teens who are in families that have divorce often have no one to talk to and go through their suffering alone. Maggie's pain is understandable. No one wants to see their family split up. You don't want to see the two people who are supposed to promote family unity just give up and walk out on you. It makes sense that Maggie is bitter and cynical towards her parents. I just didn't like though how she didn't have all the facts and kept lashing out at her mother and blaming her for the split. She didn't give her a chance to explain and kept siding with her dad. So when the truth finally comes out, it hurts Maggie more than anything. I'm glad the ending of the novel doesn't end happily. Many Christian novels have everyone making up with the family getting back together and hugs all around. Unfortunately that is not always realistic. Maggie's faith keeps her strong throughout this whole ordeal. There is a subplot which involves teen drinking and the ill effects of it. With both parents involved with their own affairs, there's no one for Maggie to turn to so she gives into peer pressure and then pays for the consequences. This is an excellent book for teens who have experienced divorce. Highly recommended teen reading.

Divorce Court!.......2007-02-17

Oh no, this is huge!!! Maggie comes home to find that her parents are getting a divorce. Maggie is so confused as to how her Christian parents split up. She stays at her best friend's house and tries to figure things out. Maggie suspects that it's her mom's fault that her parent's got a divorce, because her mom is always yelling. Maggie's dad gets a cool new apartment, but finds out that her dad has a secret that he won't tell Maggie. She tries to talk to her best friend Claire, but she doesn't understand and she can't tell the rest her family because they don't believe in "divorces." She gets a job at her Aunt Louise's restaurant to get her mind off things, and she becomes really close to her Aunt. She also thinks that her mom and dad might get back together, but when a family member dies it puts a hole in Maggie's heart. Maggie hopes and prays that her mom and dad will get back together so that she can move on with her life.
The thing I love most about Maggie is that even when her parents split up, she always turned to God for help and she stayed strong. I was really surprised when she went to work at her Aunt's restaurant. That's what I would also do to get my mind off things. The one thing that I liked least about Maggie is that she blamed somebody for something that she didn't even know was true. Like when she blamed the divorce on her mom and later her dad, I didn't really think that was fair. I also didn't like when Ned, a boy she liked, took her to go snow sledding with his friend and Maggie had a ton to drink. I was very unhappy with her. All in all, this book really was good.

Divorce Court!.......2007-02-17

Outstanding book, wonderfully done..........2006-08-19

This is a great book, by Melody Carson, about a girl who is a senior in high school, Maggie, whose parents are suddenly getting a divorce. I think this is the only book that I have read, that truly captures the impact of divorce on the kids in the family. Maggie is torn between her father who she loves, and her mother who she never got along with. When she learns the real reason of the divorce, she is shocked, hurt, and stunned that this could happen to her family, but she also is trying to piece the family she once knew, back together with what little information she has. This is a real life lesson in this book, and that is EVERY family has problems. Every family out there has something wrong, and the grass is not always greener on the other side of the fence. This was a novel that wasn't exciting to read, but had some truths in it, and that made it worthwhile to read.

Bitter Rose.......2006-05-23

Bitter Rose by Melody Carlson is about a girl whose parents are splitting up. The girl is named Maggie. Maggie is trying to get her parents back together. Maggie finds out that the reason her mom kicked her dad out was because he was cheating on her. In the end, Maggie realized to stay out of it even though her parents don't get back together.
When I read this book, I thought it was going to be boring. After I got farther in the book, it got more interesting. The lesson I learned was to stay out of other people's business. People who like the other color books in this series would like this one. I would love to read more books by Melody Carlson. All of her books try to teach all of us a lesson.

From the ground up: An oral history of Edwin Brazelton Snead

Average customer rating:

From the ground up: An oral history of Edwin Brazelton Snead
Edwin deSteiguer Snead
Manufacturer: C.C. Sadler]
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B0006YV8Q0

Orange Crushed: A Season on the Brink at America's Biggest Football School

Average customer rating:

Courageous Reporting

Orange Crushed: A Season on the Brink at America's Biggest Football School
Darren Epps
Manufacturer: Jefferson Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Football (American) | Sports | Subjects | Books

General | Sports | Subjects | Books
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Tales from Q School: Inside Golf's Fifth Major
Namath (Icons of the NFL)

ASIN: 0971897492

Book Description

This in-depth, behind-the-scenes look at the University of Tennessee college football team’s monumental collapse includes all the arrests, losses, and firings that made up the most tumultuous season in school history. A favorite to contend for a spot in the national championship game with a running back hailed as a Heisman Trophy candidate, the Volunteers stumbled to a 5-6 record—their worst mark since 1988. The Heisman hopeful, Gerald Riggs Jr., watched most of his team’s demise from the sideline as the season he waited three years for crumbled under
lackluster rushing performances and a season-ending ankle injury. Even head coach Phillip Fulmer endured heavy doses of criticism from fans clamoring for a coaching change. This unforgettable look at the 2005 season also includes information on what the future may hold for Riggs, Fulmer, and Tennessee football.

Customer Reviews:

Courageous Reporting.......2007-03-24

Courageous Reporting

Often sports teams expecting great things want it chronicled for prosperity. The University of Tennessee wanted just such a tome when they asked Mr. Epps, a sports reporter in Chattanooga, to write a book about the widely anticipated Vols run to the NCAA football championship before the 2005 season began. But, things went terribly wrong. The team finished under .500 and even lost to Vanderbilt - usually an automatic win. Thus a season full of promise turned into a disaster - totally unexpected and accepted by the highly competitive and charged "Vol Nation."

Now faced with writing about a losing campaign, rather than the highlights of a championship season, Mr. Epps could have taken the easy way out and offered up a litany of excuses for the Vols sub-par season. To his credit, he did not.

Harking back to an earlier axiom of sports reporting, long before Mr. Epps tapped on a keyboard (after all he is only in his 20s), and not always practiced today by his veteran colleagues, Mr. Epps "Called it as he saw it." He took head coach Fullmer to task for rotten decision making, and wasn't afraid to chronicle the misdeeds and lack of effort of the players.

While Mr. Epps may have suffered the slings and arrows afterwards from the mighty Vols alumni - he is not a Tennessee grad - he can look at himself in the mirror and know he wrote an honest account of a very trying season.

I look forward to reading more straightforward, honest reporting by Mr. Epps.

Crushed: The Perilous Journey Called Ministry

Average customer rating:

Great Book!
A Good Read
This is a book every church person should read ...

Crushed: The Perilous Journey Called Ministry
Gary L. Pinion
Manufacturer: 21st Century Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 0977196429

Product Description

Churches all across this nation are in disarray. Pastors are being terminated because of an emergence of a few rebellious-religious zealot control freaks. Members are hurting and inflicting hurt on one another as well as their pastors with a dictatorial style of leadership. Why are so many pastors and churches experiencing such devastation? Why do Christians, many of whom have been raised and trained under some of the godliest pastors and churches in America, end up acting like pagans? This book is about what is going on in the ministry environment in the 21st Century. The stories and ideas in the pages ahead reflect the real experiences of real people and real circumstances living out their sometimes difficult and complicated lives in what is known as the church world. H. B. London and Neil B. Wiseman in their updated Pastors at Great Risk book Pastors at Greater Risk say, The risks in ministry are greater than ever. Pastors are working harder in a world thats more corrupt. They wonder why their parishioners expect them to squander energy on trivial matters when evil threatens to wreck the human race.

Customer Reviews:

Great Book!.......2006-03-23

Crushed is the kind of book you don't enjoy reading, because it hits home and brings out the realities of things pastor have to go through. Gary has done an excellent job sharing experiences and heartaches, and even gives solutions to the problems.

Every church leader should read this book, from pastors, deacons, elders to the layman sitting in the pew!

A Good Read.......2006-03-22

Dr. Pinion's experiences and research come through in his book. He has pinpointed significant reasons why pastors leave the ministry. An especially good read for the lay leader in the church

This is a book every church person should read ..........2006-01-20

Crushed is a book about pastors of American churches in this generation. It is filled with stunning statistics and heart wrenching stories. The author is a seasoned veteran of pastoral ministry for three decades and is now the founder/president of a ministry to people in ministry called, Encouragement Dynamics.

The prime directive of Encouragement Dynamics comes from the heart of a pastor and his wife who love other pastors and their wives now laboring in God's harvest. Gary and Georgia Pinion have dedicated themselves to care for the shepherds and their families of today's churches.

The heart of the book is wrapped around the experiences of pastors interviewed by the author who have been "crushed" by cruel circumstances and unrealized expectations. Citing from no less than three dozen published sources and from numerous personal accounts derived from correspondence, Dr. Pinion takes the reader into a quiet corner of silent sorrows and private pain. It is no wonder that he has picked up the cause to expose the crisis and encourage the survivors. It is not an easy journey to serve with a calling from on high but most are unaware of the losses incurred in the pastoral ministry until books like this confront those issues.

Iron Soldiers: How America's 1st Armored Division Crushed Iraq's Elite Republican Guard

Average customer rating:

Real world experience. Better than fiction.
iron soldiers
Not bad
Iron Soldiers is hard hitting, very true with accurate facts
Informative, especially for the novice

Iron Soldiers: How America's 1st Armored Division Crushed Iraq's Elite Republican Guard
Tom Carhart
Manufacturer: Pocket
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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The Eyes of Orion: Five Tank Lieutenants in the Persian Gulf War

ASIN: 0671791656

Customer Reviews:

Real world experience. Better than fiction........2002-09-11

This is a great account of the Gulf War. The most fought part of the ground war, yet the least covered. Everyone hears about 73 easting (2ACR) and the 7th Cav debacle with 1 Cavalry Division, but this unit (1AD) fought the largest tank battle since World War II without combat losses. Yes I was there.

iron soldiers.......2002-01-12

was with 6-6 inf. as a brad. commander in c. co. found the book very accurate, right down to the detail of the falling out between iron mike and col. meigs who is now the cinc in usaeur. very good book and very accurate as to the battles we fought.

Not bad.......2000-09-07

While I was looking for a story on ground combat during the Gulf War, I was a bit dissapointed to see much of the book spent on the preparations in Germany before the division shipped out. Not a bad book, but not what I was looking for.

Iron Soldiers is hard hitting, very true with accurate facts.......1999-01-19

Iron soldiers is intersting reading that tells the true story of the First Armored Division in combat with Iraq's Republican Guards. Tom Carhart writes as if he was there during the combat misssions. He has exact information and details that describe many personal events about the prepration, deployment, and battles. He highlights and explains the fear and concerns of some of the leaders as they prepare to leave Germany. I almost relive the Gulf War when I read Iron Soldiers. I was a First Sergeant with the Alpha Company 54th Engineer Bn at Wildflecken Germany and my company was attached to the 2nd Brigade 1AD during the Gulf war. Any soldier who was in the ground war should read this book. I believe that they will relate to it and get satisfaction in knowing that we did our job well. First Sergeant William E. Miller (Retired)

Informative, especially for the novice.......1998-08-01

Considering the price, this book is a great buy that provides a good overview of life in a tank battalion. Tactics, training and armaments are well covered, though there is too much time spent on the familes back home. Some of the stories may be embellished, but they are accurate enough for the average reader.

Orange Crushed: An Ivy League Mystery (Ivy League Mysteries)

Average customer rating:

Okay, still a good read but...
You're Not Missing Anything
Three Strikes and you're out
Promise unfulfilled
Not her Best

Orange Crushed: An Ivy League Mystery (Ivy League Mysteries)
Pamela Thomas-Graham
Manufacturer: Pocket
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Women Sleuths | Mystery | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books

General | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0671016725

Book Description

Pamela Thomas-Graham's beguiling and atmospheric Ivy League novels simmer with hot button issues -- and unveil layers of malice and murder inside the life academic. Harvard economics professor Nikki Chase is intent on becoming the first tenured African-American woman in her department. But with her affinity for solving crimes, she may make her name in a place where the highest levels of human intellect can court the lowest impulses of the human heart.

PUBLISH OR PERISH

A working weekend at a Princeton conference is just what Nikki needs to deflect the pre-holiday pressures -- both professional and personal -- that are closing in on her back in Cambridge. And there will be down time, too, at a party honoring professor Earl Stokes, her old friend and mentor. Rumors abound that Stokes, a Princeton superstar, may depart for Harvard, a change that would stir up as much controversy as his new bestselling book on race issues. When Stokes's body is discovered among the smoldering ruins of the not-yet-completed black-studies building, a shattered Nikki refuses to accept the police findings that the death was accidental. And among the ashes she will uncover a murderous agenda with ominous implications for not only the Princeton campus but Harvard as well.

Customer Reviews:

Okay, still a good read but..........2007-05-07

I do have to admit that some of the themes are getting a little played. I did expect Dante and Nikki to be a bit further along and over some of the sophomoric sexual tension, and the "passing" thing is well...enough already. In any case, I still enjoyed it (funny, action mystery, the comedy of the characters in academe all great) and I am looking forward to the next one!

You're Not Missing Anything.......2006-07-10

It took me a while to get through this book. I kept losing interest and I would just set the book down and pick it up a few days later to continue reading it. So Professor Nikki Chase becomes involved in a 3rd murder mystery. How believable is that? Why not introduce new main characters into the Ivy League Series who solve mysteries? And why does it always have to be murder? Anyway, this "mystery" was too easy to solve. Nikki was always either at the right place at the right time or she would ask suspects numerous questions and they would give her the answers she wanted without any suspicion as to why she was concerned. Nikki's relationship with Dante Rosario is getting old and stale and I see no point in their relationship. I predict the 4th book in this series will be titled "Brown Bomber" and Nikki will again be involved in a 4th murder investigation at Brown University.

Three Strikes and you're out.......2006-06-09

I am an avid reader of mystery novels, I love them so I know a good read, when I read it, I am a die-hard fan of Judith Smith-Levin, now that's a mystery writer, and many other African-American mystery writers as well, so after I read all three of your books Ms. Thomas-Graham, in my opinion, I did not find your books an enjoyable read, I lost interest quickly. I became bored with the mystery solving as well as the romance part of the book.

Promise unfulfilled.......2005-11-23

I love mystery books, and I especially love mysteries written by black authors, with black protagonists. I've read everything from Walter Mosely's Easy Rawlins to Valerie Wilson Wesley's Tamara Hayle to Barbara Neely's sleuthing domestic Blanche. I also like to welcome new black writers to the mystery genre, such as Ian Smith (The Blackbird Papers). It was in that spirit I read A Darker Shade of Crimson, the first mystery featuring Pamela Thomas Graham's Harvard professor Nikki Chase. I enjoyed this first effort and thought the Ivy League theme had a lot of promise. While I've yet to read Graham's second installment of the series, Blue Blood, I bought the third book, Orange Crushed, with high expectations. I finished the book this morning, and I have to say I was disappointed. Chase never actually solves the mystery at all. Instead, the rest of the book's characters (including a plethora of minor ones) basically hand her the answers, piece by piece. There is a difference between solving a puzzle and filling in all the boxes correctly because other people gave you the answers. Chase does a lot of guessing, speculating and wondering, but she figures absolutely nothing out for herself. As a result, she comes off as bright and involved, but not particularly perceptive, and hardly worthy of the sleuth designation. Since a double-Harvard, ex-Wall Street executive can hardly be expected to have formal training as a criminal investigator, it is crucial that Chase exhibit some natural talent for deductive reasoning, attention to detail, reading people and problem solving. Yet she spent nearly all of the book having literally no clue of what was really going on around her, even with her own baby brother. Read Neely's Blanche series for a more believable "accidental" detective. Also, there are a number of mistakes that pierce the veil of reality every good book creates. For example, there is a reference to the Houston Oilers in a book ostensibly set in the present, i.e. 2004. The NFL's Houston Oilers ceased to be nearly a decade ago (they are now the Tennessee Titans). Again, I think the murder-in-the- Ivy-League premise brims with promise. However, Orange Crushed falls far short of fulfillment of that potential.

Not her Best.......2005-01-08

I liked this book, but there was something missing in comparison to the other two in this series. Nikki Chase, the lead character, is a professor at Harvard who keeps finding herself in the middle of murder investigations. The first two books in this series made it totally believable that this could happen to her, but by the time you get to the third book and she's involved in another murder mystery, you almost want to roll your eyes. Why does this keep happening to her?

At any rate, I like the characters and some of the book is extremely funny, but I also got sick of how the plot sort of just dragged along. And there were obvious potential clues that she didn't pursue and this was frustrating. Some things she just let slide by. So in a nutshell, this is a good mystery that went unsolved for too long.

Average customer rating:

Good book
Great storylines

CHRONICALLY CRUSHED CLUELESS (Clueless)
Randi Reisfeld
Manufacturer: Simon Pulse
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Ages 9-12 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

Clueless | Series | Teens | Subjects | Books

General | Literature & Fiction | Teens | Subjects | Books

Being a Teen | Social Issues | Teens | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 067101904X

Customer Reviews:

Good book.......2006-10-14

I LOVED IT! THAT STUDMUFFIN BALDWIN CHAD IS SOOO SEXY AND COOL! I DON'T KNOW WHY EVERYONE HATES HIM SO MUCH! I RECCOMEND THIS TO CLUELESS FANS!

Great storylines.......1998-08-19

In this book, De seems less bonded with Cher and Amber . Other than that , it still remains nice storylines

Average customer rating:

The Crushed Flower and Other Stories
Leonid Nikolayevich Andreyev
Manufacturer: Hard Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 1406929832
Release Date: 2006-11-03

Book Description

But that same evening, and perhaps it was another evening, he noticed his father crying. It happened in the following way: He was passing his father's study, and the door was half open; he heard a noise and he looked in quietly--father lay face downward upon his couch and cried aloud. There was no one else in the room.

Download Description

His name was Yura. He was six years old, and the world was to him enormous, alive and bewitchingly mysterious. He knew the sky quite well. He knew its deep azure by day, and the white-breasted, half silvery, half golden clouds slowly floating by. He often watched them as he lay on his back upon the grass or upon the roof. But he did not know the stars so well, for he went to bed early. He knew well and remembered only one star - the green, bright and very attentive star that rises in the pale sky just before you go to bed, and that seemed to be the only star so large in the whole sky. But best of all, he knew the earth in the yard, in the street and in the garden, with all its inexhaustible wealth of stones, of velvety grass, of hot sand and of that wonderfully varied, mysterious and delightful dust which grown people did not notice at all from the height of their enormous size. And in falling asleep, as the last bright image of the passing day, he took along to his dreams a bit of hot, rubbed off stone bathed in sunshine or a thick layer of tenderly tickling, burning dust.

Average customer rating:

Crushed
Reflects Teen Age Experiences in High School
Quiet story

Crushed
Laura Mcneal , and Tom Mcneal
Manufacturer: Knopf Books for Young Readers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

School | Issues | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

General | Issues | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

General | Literature | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

General | Literature & Fiction | Teens | Subjects | Books

Look Inside Teen Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
Similar Items:

Zipped (Readers Circle)
Crooked
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Keeping the Moon (reissue)

ASIN: 0375831053
Release Date: 2006-01-10

Book Description

Audrey and her best friends Lea and C.C. have just arrived at Jemison High from the one-room private school where they spent grades six through ten, where they performed Gilbert and Sullivan musicals, where they adored Edith Wharton. They’re a nerdy little trio, so everyone is shocked when the handsome new guy, Wickham Hill, asks Audrey out.
Audrey is soon so smitten that she hardly pays any mind to the vicious underground newspaper at school–or to that strange lurking guy in World Cultures. Before long, it seems everyone at Jemison High is worried about getting crushed–by friends, by enemies, by a mysterious reporter.

Customer Reviews:

Crushed.......2006-08-25

I decided to purchase Crushed after reading and thoroughly enjoying Zipped and Crooked, other young adult novels by Laura and Tom McNeal. This husband and wife team always does a great job of writing from the perspective of average teenagers. In Crushed, the three main characters are Audrey, Wickham and Clyde. Audrey, an innocent and intelligent good girl falls for the smooth but mysterious new guy, Wickham. Blinded by her first love, she fails to notice that Clyde, Jemison High's resident oddball, has a crush on her too. Wanting to protect Audrey, Clyde follows his gut instinct and digs deep into the dark past of Wickham. In the mean time, an underground newspaper called The Yellow Paper circulates the school, ready to spill everyone's secrets with its witty and biting commentary on students and teachers.
Told from alternating viewpoints, McNeal and McNeal made it easy for me to really get to know the main characters. Audrey, who was naïve in the ways of love and friendship, gets a rude awakening when she is betrayed by people she loves the most and eventually comes out stronger on the other side. Her transformation is very believable and readers find themselves rooting for her even at her lowest moments. The only character of the novel that I found to be unrealistic was Audrey's best friend Lea. The development of Lea's personality, from shy and quiet, to reckless and rebellious was hurried. The surprising change was unexpected and happened to quickly to be believable. It also wasn't supported by clues in the text that might have explained why this transformation had occurred.
The intricate plot of Crushed is what really drives the novel. It starts off fast and keeps pace till the last chapter. The theme of the novel, that everyone has a secret, runs throughout and ties in with almost every single character's development. These secrets, some that The Yellow Paper decides to reveal, threaten to undo their seemingly perfect lives. Story lines that include a fatal car wreck, bankruptcy, and cancer, propel the novel past the average teen fair and give it a mature feel. By the end of the book, I was satisfied with the directions the authors decided to take the characters, and wasn't let down or disappointed.
The reason I enjoyed the book so much was because of how realistic it was. Gossip, rumors, cliques and crushes were all aspects of the novel that I could relate too. I love the fact that Crushed made me feel as if I could be there, at that same high school, walking amongst the characters. A believable suspense is also built up during the novel, which kept me reading until the end. This is mostly due to the wonderful writing style of the authors. McNeal and McNeal know how teenagers think and this fact comes through with their writing. The characters aren't your typical teenage stereotypes, and it helps seeing them from different points of view, a technique the writers have incorporated in all three of their novels. First love, physics reports and all of high schools other uncertainties are presented fully and truthfully.

Reflects Teen Age Experiences in High School.......2006-04-13

The Anonymous Yellow tabloid of Jemison High is the real insidious protagonist of `CRUSHED', the third collaboration between husband and wife writing team of Laura and Tom McNeal.

This husband and wife partnership has produced a limpidly written intrigue, believable characters and a thrilling plot.
Audrey Reed, CC Mudd and Lea Woolcott are best friends. They were transferred from a cozy private school to a humongous High School where they feel lost and lonely. CC's brother Brian is their only friend on campus.? Audrey Reed, a poor little rich girl, is besotted with the new guy in class- handsome, smooth and money hungry Wickham Hill. He charms Audrey who has little guidance at home.

Her father is busy trying to save his business, her mother has died when Audrey was 4 and her Nanny has gone back to Germany to nurse a friend. Wickham Hill is the illegitimate son of a rich doctor, who is weaning him and his mom from his money, and Wickham has a big secret! Wickham incites Audrey to help him cheat in physics class, which makes her feel uncomfortable. When her father looses his business and they have to move to a poorer district, Wickham dumps her. Of course she is "crushed" and cannot help stalking him.

As a secondary plot, we follow an awfully shy teenager trying to get beautiful Audrey's attention. His name is Clyde Mumsford or The Mummy as the other kids in the class call him. His mom is dying at home and he is "throwing" a beautiful vase for her at ceramic class. Consumed by his jealousy,? he snoops on the Internet and discovers Wickham's secret, which he cannot wait to tell Audrey.

Meanwhile, the sleaze Yellow paper is spreading ignominies about their teachers and students. Audrey cannot help but think that Wickham would be the next victim. Audrey is sort of creeped out by Mumsford appearance and mannerism. The head bully of the school, Theo Briggs, is also vilified in the anonymous Yellow Paper. He tries to discover the author of this story and?by bullying Audrey, he is given a name. However, she is still on his "to do" list.

Theo Brigg's promise comes true when Audrey is walking alone in the parking lot of the school. Theo and his mean friends attack her. Is she going to be saved? Who will be her hero? Who is the real author of the sleaze Yellow Paper?

The beginning of the story is a bit slow while the authors introduce us to the bevy of characters. However, the pace picks up quite rapidly and then the plot thickens and `CRUSHED' becomes a real page-turner. `CRUSHED' reflects the hard life teenagers have to go through in High School and how they get over it.

Lily Azerad-Goldman, Artist & Reviewer for Bookpleasures

Quiet story.......2006-03-21

Audrey does not have a mother and her surrogate mom/housekeeper is away. Her father is facing terrible financial problems he is trying to keep secret from Audrey. Audrey envisions herself and her best friends, Lea and C.C., as the Three Little Maids of Gilbert and Sullivan fame. She listens to The Mikado in her car.

Wickham does not have a father. His delusional mother clings to the idea that someday Wickham's biological father will divorce his wife and join them in family-hood while her son battles migraines and memories from his past.

Clyde has a loving family but he is losing his mother to cancer. He works as a waiter at the country club and worships Audrey from afar. He is actively searching for personal information about his classmates on the Internet.

The three are also adrift in their personal lives. Audrey's father is never home and, so, she is alone most of the time. Wickham is rootless and bills his distant father for all his expenses. Clyde is in a terrible no-man's land hoping his mother will recover, fearing she will not and waiting for an outcome he dreads.

Audrey, Wickham, and Clyde struggle to stay afloat in the confusing and sometimes scary and dangerous world of high school. There are thugs waiting to waylay unsuspecting students in the halls and parking lot. An underground newspaper, The Yellow Paper, spills deeply held secrets of the students and teachers.

When Wickham enrolls at Jemison Hall, Audrey is completely smitten. He is very tall, very handsome and at ease with the world. Audrey must decide how far she is willing to go for her new boyfriend.

The characters are crushed as in "romantic obsession" and crushed emotionally by the events threatening to overtake them. Like a Gilbert and Sullivan operetta, characters are not who they appear to be. Identities are hidden and relationships become tangled.

The reader aches for Audrey and Clyde, feels some pity for Wickham and hopes for a happy G&S ending to the story. There is no spirited chorus singing at the end, but the conclusion is satisfactory.

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