Book Description
In this groundbreaking book, Mary O'Hara-Devereaux -- an internationally renowned business forecaster -- shows how organizations can hone their competitive edge during these uncertain times. Using the metaphor of traveling through the badlands of the American West, Navigating the Badlands offers the principles, tools, transformative strategies, and essential understanding executives and business leaders need if they are to weather the rugged, global business landscape of the future. Throughout the book O'Hara-Devereaux reveals how business leaders can seize the opportunity to create new value from successful alliances, reach global markets, and find top talent.
Download Description
In this groundbreaking book, Mary O'Hara-Devereaux -- an internationally renowned business forecaster -- shows how organizations can hone their competitive edge during these uncertain times. Using the metaphor of traveling through the badlands of the American West, Navigating the Badlands offers the principles, tools, transformative strategies, and essential understanding executives and business leaders need if they are to weather the rugged, global business landscape of the future. Throughout the book O'Hara-Devereaux reveals how business leaders can seize the opportunity to create new value from successful alliances, reach global markets, and find top talent.
Customer Reviews:
Navigating the Badlands.......2007-01-17
I have tracked the global environment for over twelve years and have learned much more about this environment by reading Mary O'Hara-Devereaux's book. In my opinion, it's a must read for educators and business professionals.
Highly Recommended!.......2005-04-11
Every few hundred years, the Western world takes itself apart and puts itself together again. Peter Drucker observed that this process of dissolution and reconstitution occurs so decisively that, afterward, people who live in the new world cannot even imagine the world of their parents or grandparents. Author Mary O'Hara-Devereaux believes that we are about three-quarters through a 75-year period of such disruptive innovation. She calls the transition "the Badlands." Like the barren Dakota Badlands of the Old West, they are a painful trial that makes or breaks people, and either way leaves them with a new sense of identity. The author identifies several distinct transitional pains for which she prescribes an equal number of palliatives. Her analyses and prescriptions can be thought provoking, though they are seldom trail blazing. While the book may be more smoke than fire, we find that smoke signals can be useful for the long-range vistas in the Badlands. (And, by the way, the author includes a chapter on China that seems almost as parenthetical as this sentence, though interesting enough. In reality, China looks like the pivot point of Badlands transitions, and how it comes through may affect how your neighborhood comes through, as well.)
Book Description
Casinos, steakhouses, gold mines, historic landscapes, and the infamous town of Deadwood make South Dakota's Black Hills the perfect blend of history and entertainment. This guide points to the best places in the area for lodging, dining, shopping, and recreation, making it indispensable for any traveler to the Black Hills.
Customer Reviews:
Lots of info but a pain to search through..........2007-07-12
We just returned from over a week in the Badlands and Black Hills. Although this book had a lot of very useful information, I hated searching through it. Everything is divided into its own category: hotels, restaurants, activities, etc. So when we were in one place for a day or two, we had to search through different sections to find all of the info for that one place. Even worse, each section is divided out by Northern Hills, Central Hills, etc. or by the type of food you're looking for. There was no central location to find all of the restaurants in Deadwood, for example. Apart from that, I found most of the info to be correct and useful. A few of the entry fees were higher in reality, but my biggest problem was with the book's organization. It was a great vacation, and I had a hard time coming home...
Poorly arranged.......2007-06-26
We just got back from a week-long trip to the Black Hills using this guidebook, and while it was better than nothing, and the information was generally correct, it was very hard to use. Instead of being arranged by location, the attractions are arranged by category, with each category subdivided yet again. And the index is no use, since they're not indexed by location. This means that if you're sitting in your motel in (say) Deadwood, and wondering what to do in town, you literally have to thumb through the entire book to figure out! Very frustrating. And the book lacks detailed maps where they are needed (the Deadwood-Lead area, where the roads are rather confusing, or the area around Keystone, Mt. Rushmore, and Crazy Horse). The maps mention the Mickelson Trail, but it's not in the index, and we didn't find out what it was until we were actually there (hint: it's not a scenic highway). And the book needs to be more emphatic about the need to stay away from this whole region in early August because of the motorcycle madness.
Great Resource .......2007-02-23
We are planning a trip to the Badlands and Black Hills in September. Insider's Guide provides a wealth of information and I'm finding it a valuable asset. Combined with info from the internet, we will have a well organized trip with knowledge of this area's history.
Book Description
From the critically acclaimed author of Ash Child, the tenth in this popular series set in Montana A wealthy millennial cult from California relocates to the outskirts of the Montana badlands-the dry and windy dead zone-and the Toussaint townsfolk are none too pleased. The cult members keep to themselves, but Gabriel Du Pr soon learns that seven of their recently defected members were killed-each shot to death. When another shooting incident occurs just outside of the compound, Du Pr finds himself blindly searching for a killer and an explanation for the murders-for which there seem to be no answers.
Customer Reviews:
Benetsee Sang.......2004-10-12
When a series closes in on a dozen volumes, the challenge to the author is to keep his characters believable and avoid repetitive formulas. In other words the author must find new ways of being creative while each new book adds more constraints to the overall story. Truth be told, I know of no author who manages this with complete ease. Thus many of the contributing factors of Badlands will be familiar to Peter Bowen's more loyal readers, while newcomers will find the story completely original.
Thus one can predict that Gabriel Du Pre, Metis Indian and frequent agent of a higher justice will be lectured by his mate Madelaine, manipulated by Benetsee the Shaman, and stubbornly determined to try his own way first. He and his own are the truest natives of northern Montana, living at peace with the other long term residents of Toussaint and jealously guarding the inner nature of a lifestyle that still reflects the wilderness about them.
When The Host of Yahweh, a yuppie religious cult, mysteriously descends on Toussaint and proceeds to build a closed community at a local ranch, this gets a lot of attention. Especially when they show signs of killing of the local wild horse herd as pests. Benetsee and Du Pre step in, and soon the violence escalates. The FBI believes that the Host is implicated in the simultaneous killing of 7 ex-members, Du Pre is enlisted and an investigation that is more like a small war ensues.
There really isn't a mystery here other than how Du Pre will manage to overcome the Host, but there is a lot of Bowen's warm respect for the Metis Indians. He captures beautifully the strange English dialect that is part fractured French grammar, part salty word selection, and part sheer attitude. Du Pre is surrounded by characters that Bowen generally keeps entertaining us, even if they are not always using fresh material. Benetsee steals the book this time with his own magical mystery tour. As Bowen writes, "Him, he will make his joke. Always does. Us, we get to be the punch lines."
I would advise starting earlier than this volume in the series, not because it can't stand on its own, but because of the amount the previous volumes contribute to the context.
Veiw it as a novel first, a mystery second.......2004-09-16
As noted by another reviewer, there really isn't much mystery in this book, but there is one heck of a good story. Like any good serial, a mysterious cult, shadowy leader, stolen arms, and murder are all just a framework for the characters to act around. I will say that the death of the woman on the four-wheeler hit me as particularly disturbing, and I wish we had gotten a little more about Bart's kidnapping, but all in all the story satisfied and stayed true to the series.
Not all questions get answeres, and not all plotlines get neatly tied off, but that seems to be part and parcel of Bowen's style.
As always, those familliar with the series will get more from the book than a first time reader.
I really enjoied seeing the relationship develope between Pallas and Ripper, as well as the interplay between Ripper and Harvey. Who is Pidgeon in love with? Will Pallas grow up and join the FBI - pushing Harvey into early retirement and chasing Ripper back to Brazil?
I eagerly await the next instalment.
Little plot, lots of color.......2004-07-27
Aficionados of Peter Bowen's Gabriel Du Pre mysteries already know that life is grim in the Big Sky Country. It doesn't matter whether you're a bankrupt rancher, a fiddler, or a member of the strange religious sect called the Host of Yahweh--they're sort of like the Amish on steroids with a bunker full of Kalashnikovs.
Bowen's detective-hero, Gabriel Du Pre is a laconic fiddler who lets his music and his deeds speak for him. He and his long-time mistress, Madelaine are Metis descendants of the French Voyageurs and Plains Indians.
Du Pre's rich friend Bart can't figure out why the bankrupt ranchers didn't come to him for help before selling their homestead to the Host of Yahweh. Then Du Pre and his FBI buddies discover that the rancher's family actually joined the secretive sect. Du Pre sneaks onto the Host of Yahweh's land to do damage to a man who is going to slaughter a band of wild horses. Then he stampedes their buffalo herd. Finally he blows up their weapons cache. In between all of these illegal goings-on, the Host of Yahweh invite all of their neighbors over for a barbecue.
Alas, it's a bit late to try and make friends with the very people who wish your weirdly-dressed church members had picked another state to live in. Preferably in the Netherworld.
"Badlands" is really a series of interesting, sometimes horrifying vignettes strung together in the fashion of a Montana tourist brochure, rather than a mystery with a plot. Du Pre gets caught in a buffalo stampede. He fashions Madelaine a pair of reading glasses, outrageously rhinestoned. The Feebees motor around in their jet-propelled helicopter. They arrest cult members. Cult members go free. Scores commit suicide. Several commit murder. Du Pre's granddaughter makes chocolate chip cookies for the FBI agent she is determined to marry, once she is of age. His name is Ripper and when he gets himself a Humvee, he says "It makes me want to invade something, Ireland, Iraq, Indiana...some foreign land." Two more cult members commit suicide. Bart and an undercover cop are infected with a mysterious virus. The book ends.
The medicine man, Benetsee has a wonderful time in "Badlands," actually saving Du Pre's life at least once. You will have a wonderful time, too as long as you can live without a plot or a definitive conclusion.
Whoops........2003-07-24
I'm a big fan and have followed the du Pre series since its beginning, but I can't help feeling disappointed in this one. It was seriously flawed. The cult in the story is supposed to play the role of "bad guy," but at first, I couldn't tell that anything was wrong with them, except that they dared move to Montana. Even later, the cultists weren't really fleshed out. It was hard to tell just who they were or what they were like - the dialogue was often hard to follow - and the end was extremely unsatisfying; it left too many unanswered questions.
I remember reading an interview with novelist Robert B. Parker in which he said that his first draft was pretty much what got published, and I couldn't help feeling like the same was true here, and what it needed was another polish. In fact, it needed a whole new ending.
Don't get me wrong - I'll read every one of these that Mr. Bowen cares to write, they are that rewarding - but if you're curious and want to try one, don't start here.
refreshingly original.......2003-05-16
In Toussaint, Montana, the townsfolk host a going away party for a family who owned a ranch for over a century, but forced to sell to the well funded The Host of Yahwah. A white priest leads the cult and decrees his followers will be picked up by alien spaceships just before the world is destroyed.
Gabriel DuPre learns through his FBI contacts that seven men who left the cult were all killed on the same day at the same time in various places around the country by female members. Gabriel tries to help a woman trying to escape but when she sees that members of the cult are about to capture her, she kills herself in front of her children. When Gabriel sneaks into the compound and sets fire to an ammunitions dump, the resulting explosions are enough to get the FBI involved. The FBI surrounds the compound but nobody wants another Waco so the Federal agents are prepared to wait them out until Gabriel comes up with an idea to break the back of the resistance.
The tenth installment in this series is refreshingly original due in large part to the protagonist who though a grandfather fourteen times over, lives life to the fullest. He is not afraid to take chances and puts his life on the line to try and get some information on the cult that can be used by the FBI. In BADLANDS the federal agents are the good guys who act with restraint while the cult members pursue their sinister agenda. Peter Bowen does for Montana what Tory Hillerman does for New Mexico.
Harriet Klausner
Book Description
The Insiders' Guide to South Dakota's Black Hills and Badlands offers travelers, newcomers, and even locals the best, most comprehensive information on what's happening in the area. An Insiders' selection of the best places to dine, to sleep, to play, and to enjoy...it's the perfect traveling companion. Get the lowdown on Deadwood gambling, Indian pow wows, Devils Tower, Wounded Knee, and dozens of recreational opportunities, from rodeos to spelunking to hiking and more.
Customer Reviews:
Mediocre guidebook. Better than nothing, but poorly done........2004-07-16
My family just got back from South Dakota, where we used this book. I can't begin to tell you how far this book falls short. Want info. on hiking the Badlands? Forget it. Want to know about activities and food in Rapid City? You're pretty much out of luck.
The book's organization is atrocious. Restaurants in one place, lodging in another, attractions in another. So when you pull into a place, you have to flip all over the book just to figure things out.
Basics are missing. For example, say you want to know the best things to do in the Black Hills--it's very difficult to excavate from this book. Instead you learn about real estate, shopping, and many unneeded details. Hikes in the Black Hills? Forget it? How to tackle Wind Cave National Park? Little help.
After travelling around the world with opinionated and helpful Lonely Planet guides, I am sorely disappointed with this book. This book is definately better than nothing, but look elsewhere for help with your trip to beautiful South Dakota.
WHAT A COMPANION!.......2003-09-11
This book was absolutely amazing! Everything we wanted to do and everything we didn't know we wanted to do was EASY TO FIND. I spent a bit of time marking the attractions we wanted to see and the routes we wanted to take and NOT ONCE did we get lost. I recommend the trip. However, I recommend it more with this book as a travel companion. For our next trip we plan on touring the South East, don't think I haven't looked to the Insiders' Guide books to help. Have a great time!
Don't buy this book for vacation planning!.......2003-08-25
We bought this book only because the Moon Handbook was unavailable. We hoped to use this as a vacation planner. The book appears to have lots of information, but for us, interested in tent camping and hiking, with some in-town activities, the information was largely irrelevant. Things worth dwelling on--such as Spearfish Canyon--are mentioned with much less emphasis than the exhaustive coverage of shopping facilities, for example. The text is incessantly cheery and reads like a school newsletter. We would have preferred the intelligent critical evaluation that makes the Moon books such great reading--and such great resources.
Valuable Tool.......2002-04-28
We took a South Dakota vacation and found this book to be great reading in our preparation and planning. It covers everything from lodging to attractions to activities to history and on and on.
This book, in combination with "Exploring the Black Hills and Badlands: A Guide for..." helped us have a better vacation than I ever expected.
Great informational guide!.......2002-01-17
This is a GREAT book if you are visiting this area. It gives all sorts of information to make your trip more complete. It also gives background information and little insiders tips here and there. The only thing I would look elsewhere for is accomodations. It has good camping and B&B info but not nearly enough hotel and resort listings but you can get that anywhere. This book is worth it just for the INFORMATION included.
Customer Reviews:
shallow water.......2007-09-14
This book is really geared to the lower denominator in terms of what there is to do in the Black Hills. Not very much insight that you can't get from the tourist info you get from flyers. Should say more about how anti-family Deadwood has become and about the incredible natural resources that are in the area.
travel lover.......2007-07-17
We just returned from South Dakota. We took our [...]grandson. The book was perfect for us. It gave us all the things that kids loved to do and we let him decide which ones he wanted to see. We had 5 days there and we used it all the time. We had bought another book but it was not nearly as good as this one.
Great guide for going to South Dakota with kids.......2007-07-12
We just got back from spending over a week in the Badlands and Black Hills. I turned to this book over and over since we brought 3 kids under the age of 10. A great resource when you're looking for things to do with kids. You'll need a separate book for hotels, restaurants, etc. but this book was exactly what I needed to plan activities throughout the day that my kids wouldn't be totally bored with.
Book Description
"Exploring the Black Hills and Badlands" features trips for hikers, skiers, mountain bike riders and equestrians. This fully revised edition has been expanded to include every hiking trail in the region, offering more than 800 miles of trails and off-trail routes to explore. The guide features all new, up-to-date USGS topographical maps, including nearly a dozen new to this edition. Another new addition is a section focusing on family hikes and other information useful to family groups.
What is unchanged is the wealth of interesting history, tips on multi-use activities, and keen insights into the region's natural and geologic features that have made "Exploring the Black Hills and Badlands" the most useful and valuable year-round guide to this stunningly beautiful and vastly popular region.
Customer Reviews:
Best single guide.......2005-08-23
I used this book as well as the Falcon Press "Hiking South Dakota's Black Hills country", by the Gildarts, on a recent trip to the Black Hills, Badlands, Bear Lodge Mtns & the Devils Tower.
Both books were useful, but I'd give the edge to this one:
1) Hiram Rogers' book includes photocopies of topographic maps. Reproduction quality isn't high, but is frequently sufficient for the purpose. The Geldart's book has only handdrawn schematic maps.
2) "Exploring the Black Hills & Badlands" has more material. As you can see from the info provided by Amazon, there are more pages, but this understates how much further Rogers goes. Descriptions of particular trails are a bit more detailed, usually, and there is more historical and natural history material given in most cases. You will find more material, especially, on the Badlands (eg. a section on off-trail travel in the Sage Creek Wilderness).
The Geldarts do touch on locales and details not mentioned in Hiram Rogers' book, so those planning to spend any appreciable time in the area might want to get both.
I see that there appear to be restrictions in availability through Amazon as I type this. If you aren't comfortable dealing with secondary dealers, I would note that I saw new copies of Rogers' book in the bookstores at Wind Cave National Park and elsewhere. Try the websites for WCNP, the Badlands NP or Custer State Park.
Not a book for mountain bikers.......2003-11-02
This book focuses mainly on hiking trails, so if that's your thing this is the book for you. It would benefit greatly if each trail entry was _clearly_ listed with it's approved uses. The index also needs a section under each activity, that way you can look up 'mountain biking' and find references to every trail they review where biking is allowed. Some of the reviews of the trails are questionable ... the trail from French Creek Horse Camp to Iron Creek is not ridable at all for mountain bikers, in my opinion, not even close, yet it's listed as 'an exciting mountain bike ride through the park's remote northern end'. I have no idea what they were thinking. Like I said, probably a better book for hikers than bikers, but still a good resource just to give you a hint as to what's available in the area and get you started. If biking is your thing, stick to the trails listed as having cross country ski access as well as for biking and you'll get some nice single track love.
Best Guide Ever.......2002-11-27
This is an awesome book that is well written and an excellent guidebook for the outdoorsman. The photographs are outstanding. The trail maps are very helpful.
one of the best books........2001-07-31
This book is one of the best books ever written. It is very easy to read and there are many illustrations to help understand. I really enjoyed this book then I'm planning to give a present to my nephew. If you think you are a biker, Hiram's book is a must. Thanks.
one of the best books........2001-07-31
This book is one of the best books ever written. It is very easy to read and there are many illustrations to help understand. I really enjoyed this book then I'm planning to give a present to my nephew. If you think you are a biker, Hiram's book is a must. Thanks.
Average customer rating:
- the misguidance continues
- I am biased, but so is this book
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Badlands-Borderland: A History of Southern Albania/Northern Epirus
T.J. Winnifrith
Manufacturer: Duckworth Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0715632019 |
Book Description
Opposite Corfu one can see the mountains of Southern Albania, always difficult to visit, and especially so in the Communist period from 1944 to 1992. This area is called Northern Epirus by the Greeks, and contains many monuments of Greek and Roman civilization, such as those at Apollonia and Butrint. There are also relics of the Illyrians, claimed by the Albanians to be their ancestors. In the sixth century the Slavs invaded, but the district was re-captured by the Byzantines in the tenth century.
There were attacks from the West in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries and a period of anarchy until the Ottoman invasion in the fifteenth. Slavic place names, Byzantine churches, and artistic monuments of the Ottoman period are a tribute to this complicated heritage, as are the inhabitants of the area, who still speak Slavic, Greek and Latin dialects as well as Albanian. Balkan wars and world wars have added to the confusion that the book aims to disentangle, while showing through its photographs the beauty of a largely unknown part of the world.
Customer Reviews:
the misguidance continues.......2003-08-13
It is no news flash that Albanias neighbors have greedily been quarreling amongst themselves and with Albanians over its land for the pas X amount of years. The book market has overflown with material on the topic usually from bias religious or nationalistic inspired authors, and since Albania and Albanians haven't had the best conditions in trying to achieve their research being published, one may guess that the biases stand against them. It is also undeniable that the Albanians, descendants clearly of the Illyrians (no other nationality comes close to having so many corresponding traits to them as the Albanians do)are a separate nation, with a separate culture and ethinicity to those that surround them. If all of this is agreed upon, this book has no relevance in disputes over territory between Albania and Greece, or any other nation for that matter.
To base an opinion of territory simply on the language spoken is proposterous by any true historian. This would mean that the thousands of Albanian Arberesh (as they are referred to) who left Albania in the Middle Ages to escape Ottoman opression and now inhabit large parts of Calabria in Scily, Italy and still preserve the Albanian language and customs may claim that part of Italy for Albania! Not likely, and nothing they say or recite in any language would be compelling for any Italian or any individual belonging to any nation to award that land to Albania.
Regardless of those flaws which is the essence of this book, there are many usuful facts that are presented by the author throught his detailed events. Worth a read maybe, but it should definately not be your first book on the topic as it is immensly misleading.
I am biased, but so is this book.......2003-07-28
I knew when I ordered this book it would be from a particular point of view and even though it was not as extreme as I expected, it was true to form. The author here regards himself as a true student of the Balkans and Byzantine history, unlike others before him. He states early on that he is a Vlachophile and that if there is one Vlach speaker in a village it is labeled as being Vlach by him. And here lies his flaw.
Winnifruth may be a good historian, by this I mean the ability to gather lots of information, but his writing is style is confusing. The chapters are broken down in to time periods, but he will jump ahead to vaildate a point which can be very confusing and names and facts are crammed all together. His main anchor for ethnicity is language, but most of his ideas are assumptions and rules can change when he chooses. One case in point is that if Greek writing is found in ruins located in modern Albania then the people must have been Greek, but it is never taken into account that Greek was the written language at the time and it makes sense that the Greek alphabet would be used. At one point he mentions the Chams of Greece (He calls them by the Greek Tsam). They are labeled as Albanian speaking Muslims. If language is his guide these people are Albanian not Albanian speaking. Another point is the Arvanit community in Greece that is associated as being Greek, but only spoke Albanian a hundred years ago. Here language does not show what the comminuty sees itself as. Another point is the assumption of ethnicity of historical figures by their name and even thinking they are pure in their background. Names mean nothing and are written according to what a writer feels sound better. Mary was orginally Meriam, John Cabot was born Giovanni Cabato. So names me very little. Skenderbeg has the following names... Gjergj Kastrioti (alb), Jorgos Kastriotis (grk), Giorgio Castrioti (Ita). All depends on who is doing the writing.
I do get the feeling that he is less that loving towards Albanians and very much enamored with Vlach/Hellenic culture. Best part of this book is it's a book and all sources must be read to better understand a subject. And I give him credit for having tried to be unbias, but it does show. There are points where he tries to be fair and steps away from some of the insane biased statements out there
Average customer rating:
- An easy way to make history appealing to readers
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Bones in the Badlands: Time Spies, Book 2 (Time Spies)
Candice Ransom
Manufacturer: Mirrorstone
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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Similar Items:
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Secret in the Tower: Time Spies, Book 1 (Time Spies)
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Giant in the Garden: Time Spies, Book 3 (Time Spies)
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Magician in the Trunk: Time Spies, Book 4 (Time Spies)
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Rider in the Night: A tale of Sleepy Hollow (Time Spies)
ASIN: 078694028X
Release Date: 2006-10-10 |
Book Description
When Alex, Mattie, and Sophie touch the spyglass, they find themselves hurtled back to 1898, where real-life dinosaur cowboy Walter Granger has a job for them. Granger has discovered a secret cache of dinosaur skeletons. But someone’s trying to steal the bones for himself. Can the Time Spies catch the thief before the spyglass sends them home?
“Candice Ransom’s spare writing style should make history accessible to reluctant readers.”
–Vivian Vande Velde, author of A Hidden Magic
Customer Reviews:
An easy way to make history appealing to readers.......2007-05-05
Mattie, Alex, and Sophie - along with a stuffed elephant named Ellsworth - are itching with anticipation of their next adventure. Since returning from their first trip to the year 1781, the three siblings have had nothing to do but nose into the business of the various travelers who have stayed at their new home, which doubles as a country bed-and-breakfast known as the Gray Horse Inn, and, basically, be bored. Even their father can't cheer them up with trips to local museums, because anyplace that doesn't allow you to touch the merchandise - even if said merchandise is actually antiques - is mind-numbingly dull. All the trio truly want is for another Travel Guide to arrive at the Gray Horse Inn, and give them the clues to their next adventure. Luckily, they don't have to wait much longer. A woman by the name of Ms. Van Hoven arrives one night, fitting the description of a Travel Guide. Ms. Van Hoven is a scientist, a paleontologist, to be exact, and spends her days digging up and investigating bones, and other fossils that appear over the years. Mattie, Alex, and Sophie just know that a new adventure is mere moments away, and before they can finish breakfast, they've grabbed ahold of the antique brass spyglass in the secret tower room, and been yanked out of present day America, and thrown into Wyoming, in the year 1898, where Walter Granger, a true dinosaur cowboy, quickly enlists their help in discovering more dinosaur skeletons. Walter is convinced that the children are orphans who lost their way, and makes a pact with them to keep them by his side, until the end of the week, when they'll be picked up by the orphanage. Mattie, Alex, and Sophie know that they probably won't be around that long, but agree to Walter's terms, and begin helping him in his work. Between the scorching heat, unappetizing meals of beans and sheep stew, and many hours of work, the trio find themselves worked to the bone. But when they learn that someone is trying to steal the bones that Walter has discovered, they realize exactly what their mission on this particular trip is: to catch the crook red-handed and protect Walter's findings. But with only a few days to uncover the truth, the Time Spies begin to contemplate whether they'll be able to solve the mystery before the spyglass sends them back home; or if Walter's discoveries will be lost forever.
In the same fashion of Mary Pope Osborne's MAGIC TREEHOUSE series, Candice Ransom provides slightly older readers with a chance to easily make the transition from an early readers collection to that of a middle readers series. Her characters span an age group of five to nine, making them appealing to middle-aged readers, as well as their younger siblings. BONES IN THE BADLANDS features an appealing setting, mixing the history of dinosaurs along with the work of paleontologists and archaeologists, in an attempt to provide historical detail, as well as information on different careers that may spark an interest in readers. While BONES IN THE BADLANDS was an intriguing sequel, I have to admit that I found SECRET IN THE TOWER to be more interesting, as the secondary characters seemed much more exciting in that particular installment, than the ones featured here. The premise of visiting a secret tower and finding a mysterious spyglass that takes Mattie, Alex, and Sophie on adventures is still a thrilling concept; while the setting of being in an old bed-and-breakfast provides a sense of quaintness to the tale that gives it an overall homey feeling. The mild humor thrown in between pages, along with the constant bickering of Mattie and Alex is easy to relate to - especially for those with younger siblings. However, as with SECRET IN THE TOWER, Sophie is still the most enjoyable character for me. She seems wise beyond her years, and does not partake in fights with her siblings. She seems content to do what she pleases, and spend time with Ellsworth. Her quiet, contemplative nature is quite appealing, making her a shining star throughout the story. An easy way to make history appealing to readers.
Erika Sorocco
Freelance Reviewer
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