Fourth of July Books

It was about a party for the Independence Day. They watch the parades. It was called Fourth of July. They love the parades so much.

"Independence Day: Birthday of the United States" begins with the simple premise that just as everybody has a birthday so does our country. For the United States that day is July 4, 1776 because that is the day the leaders of the Second Continental Congress agreed on the exact wording of the Declaration of Independence. However, as Elaine Landau points out, the first celebration of Independence Day was really on July 8, 1776, because it took several days for news and copies of the Declaration to reach all thirteen colonies.

Landau provides a chapter explaining the history of Independence Day, working in the icons such as the Liberty Bell, but most of the book is devoted to festivities associated with the day, such as fireworks, parades, and food. A chapter is also devoted to the two biggest Independence Days, the centennial in 1876 with the International Exposition in Philadelphia and the bicentennial in 1976. The final chapter looks at the many way Americans celebrate the 4th of July, from all day block parties to eight foot cherry pies, and the back of the book includes a couple of Independence Day Projects for Glitter Sparklers and a Celebration Ice-Cream Sundae.

"Independence Day" is illustrated with both historic artwork, such as a version of Trumbull's painting of the committee presenting the Declaration to the Continental Congress and postcards from the 1800s celebrating the 4th of July, along with photographs such as several of the bicentennial being celebrated in New York City and the "Photo of the Century," which shows one hundred Americans of all different ages born in a different year from 1900 to 1999, including people from all fifty states. Young readers will learn a lot about the diverse ways Independence Day has been celebrated for over two hundred years.

This volume is one of a series devoted to Finding Out About the Holidays which includes "Chinese New Year: A Time for Parades, Family, and Friends," "Christmas: Celebrating, Life, Giving, and Kindness," "Columbus Day: Celebrating a Famous Explorer," "Halloween: Costumes and Treats on All Hallows' Eve," and "Thanksgiving Day: A Time to be Thankful."

This charming book offers kids a great story framed by vivid artwork. Boys especially will love the low-rider theme. It's a fun read no matter how many times through!

For anyone interested in the art of photo interpretation, immigration history, radical politics/unionism, and a history of the Mesabi Iron Range, I would heartedly recommend this book. The extensive bibliography and footnotes, alone, are worth the price of the book. Dr. Nemanic has given both the academic world and those interested in the Iron Range much to assimilate. Her interpretation of the interplay of radical politics and unionism and the changing significance of the July Fourth celebrations will challenge more traditional visions/interpretations. The Iron Rangers may be laconic but they certainly were and are not inactive.

"Only Children" is unusual among Alison Lurie's work in that, whereas most of her other novels have a contemporary setting, it is a period piece set in 1935. Like "Real People" it describes a group of people spending a midsummer break in a rural retreat in the north-eastern USA. Anna King, the headmistress of "Eastwind", a progressive school, has invited two couples, the parents of two of her pupils, to spend a long weekend with her at her farmhouse in upstate New York. The two nine-year-old girls, Mary Ann Hubbard and Lolly Zimmern (the future Lorin Jones of "The Truth About...."), are the best of friends. Relations between the adults, however, are more complex.

At the beginning of the novel, Mary Ann's parents Bill and Honey, Lolly's parents Dan and Celia, and Anna do indeed seem friendly. Anna has invited the two families to stay with her in the hope that Bill will agree to serve on Eastwind's board of governors where his financial and administrative expertise will be greatly valued. (He is a senior Government bureaucrat). As the book progresses, however, we learn that Dan Zimmern and Honey Hubbard are conducting an adulterous affair with one another; Celia has her suspicions but Bill seems blithely unaware of his wife's infidelity. We also learn that, some fifteen years earlier, Dan and Anna were lovers and that he still harbours hopes of renewing their relationship.

The title "Only Children" has two meanings. On the one hand, it refers to Mary Ann and Lolly, both of whom are the only children of their parents' marriages, although Lolly has an older half-brother Leonard from her father's first marriage. (Leonard Zimmern- in adult life a prominent literary critic- is a character who appears in a number of Lurie's novels. He appears here as a moody, truculent teenager reluctantly spending a holiday with his father, stepmother and kid sister, but does not play an important part in the story).

On the other hand, the title also refers to the four parents, who are "only children" in the sense that they behave childishly, with frequent petty squabbles breaking out. Each of them is childish in his or her own way. Dan, a successful advertising executive, is a handsome but irresponsible playboy. Honey is a spoilt Southern belle used to getting her own way. They are in many ways similar in character, so their attraction to one another is understandable, especially as neither Celia nor Bill makes a particularly attractive partner. Celia, a weak, insipid woman, is Dan's second wife and, like many second wives, is haunted by the thought that her husband will treat her in the same way as he treated his first. Bill is a dry, dull man and a compulsive workaholic (he spends most of the weekend break poring over work from his office). To make matters worse he is also a fanatical and blinkered Communist, forever regaling Mary Ann with stories of how much better life is in Stalin's Russia than in the USA.(Honey never directly contradicts her husband about politics, but it is clear that she still retains the conservative social attitudes of her privileged Southern background- she insists, for example, on employing a black maid).

Although this is a third-person narrative, much of the story is seen as if through the eyes of the children. Alison Lurie would herself have been nine years old in 1935, so there may be some element of autobiography. Both Mary Ann and Lolly are intelligent but innocent of many of the concerns of adult life, especially sex, and Lurie uses their innocent world-view to comment on the doings of the adult characters. (It is difficult to imagine modern-day nine-year-olds being quite as naïve as those of the thirties). Bill's extremist political opinions, for example, are satirised by being presented to us through the eyes of his half-comprehending daughter. The children's views of the sexual obsessions of their elders and betters may be based on ignorance, but they also mean that it is difficult for the reader to take those obsessions altogether seriously. Sex- and some other things to which grown-ups attach importance- are just adult games, with no more significance than childish ones.

Lolly and Mary Ann are not only intelligent, but also sensitive and imaginative (especially Lolly, as befits a famous artist of the future), and there are many delightful and refreshing views of the world as seen from a child's perspective. Clouds look lie whipped cream, Virginia creepers become old women, the name Mussolini (misheard by Mary Ann as Mousy Leena) leads into an elaborate story about a mouse princess. In their imagination the girls are themselves princesses- a surprisingly reactionary fantasy for the children of self-proclaimed progressive parents. The book reminded me strongly of H E Bates's "The Distant Horns of Summer", another book in which the adult world is seen through the eyes of a sensitive and intelligent child.

"Only Children" displays many of the qualities which have made Alison Lurie one of my favourite authors- a sharp wit, intelligence, a fluent prose style and penetrating observation of human nature. It shows us one of America's finest writers at her best.

I did, however, spot one mistake. In 1935, Strasbourg was not part of Germany, as the author implies. It had been returned to France under the Treaty of Versailles which ended the First World War.

This is a great follow up to the first Sleepytown Beagles book. My daughter was so excited to see it when I gave it to her - I had to read it immediately! We both hope that there will be more Sleepytown adventures coming soon.

This is Winnie the Pooh at his best. All of these 1st readers are just wonderful books to read to my 4 and 2 year old. They have messages of love, charity, hope and happiness

This book and the authors many others are so perfect for toddlers. Simple words and pictures help explain the meaning and customs of many holidays and traditions, making it a nice way for toddlers to understand. The board book style allows for little fingers to request multiple readings. And we all know how repetition helps them learn. They make great gifts, too.

I have to admit the main reason I read this book was to compare his story to Lewis B. Puller Jr.s book "Fortune Son". While there is some real differences in their circumstances, the pain and agony they both suffered was apparently pretty equal. Imagine HELL having 20 levels and they were both sent to level 20, the interesting part though to me was how in the long run things turned out very different for them (Note: Edited out personal theories as to why? In this review) . Still this is a book that is straight from a man's tortured soul and is extremely worthwhile. As a matter of essence, I would go as far to say the context is totally irrelevant.

Ron Kovic was an icon of the Vietnam Veterans anti-war movement in the early 1970s, as well as a powerful voice for downtrodden veterans. In his memoir "Born on the Fourth of July," he movingly recounts his journey from an ultra-patriotic youth growing up in an upstate New York suburb to an embittered disabled veteran, who wound up championing the anti-war and veteran causes. His narrative begins in combat in Vietnam where he is wounded and paralyzed, then goes to his childhood experiences; it's not really in chronological order like the movie is.

The most heartbreaking part of the book is his stay in the VA, where the conditions for wounded veterans are hardly what we would expect them to be. The recent Walter Reed scandal shows an inability on the part of our government to learn from its mistakes in this area. In addition, though Jane Fonda said that this book was the inspiration for the movie "Coming Home," Ron Kovic gets no Sally Hyde character to be his angel of love. Due to his injury, he can never again function sexually, and the only love he can get is the kind he has to pay for. Kovic is clearly anguished about this, and his situation reflected the reality for most paralyzed veterans.

Ultimately, Kovic was able to find a purpose in his life, and his book had wide influence. He became outspoken against the Vietnam War and for better treatment of veterans. He became a much-sought speaker, and his memoir was eventually turned into a movie starring Tom Cruise. Bruce Springsteen wrote "Shut Out the Light" after reading "Born on the Fourth of July," and his "Born in the USA" may have been partly inspired by Kovic. Kovic continues to speak out against the war, and his memoir remains a classic.

Moreover, "Born on the Fourth of July" remains relevant today. All of the Iraqi veterans coming home with PTSD and having trouble functioning in everyday life, or have had marriages broken due to the stress related to constantly being recalled for another tour of duty, or had injuries similar to Kovic's, show that the issues in the book are very much alive today. Finally, I would recommend this book to history fans who want to see the ways in which society was changing 40 years ago, and how Vietnam impacted ordinary people.

The story is poignant of this good American youth who went enlisted in the marines to fight in Vietnam in order to coma back as an Hero. Who did not have such glorious dreams ?

Alas, he was seriously injured, and returned in a wheelchair deeply traumatized. Injury was double, physical and psychological, as a former Vietnam vet and thus rejected by society.

Every holiday, patriotic, July 4, this dual wound bleeds more because this man is born on the Fourth of July (hence the title). How such a man can escape his tornament is well described in this very good book.

Ron Kovic gives an interesting perspective into the ideas and sentiments of the 1960s. Kovic's traumatic experiences and harsh lessons help to illustrate both sides of the decade: that of the "patriot," and that of the protestor. The 1960s were a changing time in American history, and fueling these fires were the fears of Communism, war, and ultimately the shifting identity of the "enemy" as the power of the change. These factors are present in Kovic's account of civilian life both before and after his time in Vietnam.

The Cold War had significant effects on Americans throughout the 1960s, and it permeated through most aspects of society. This paranoia is a byproduct of the 1950s, and Kovic's childhood illustrates how deeply the roots of this fear reached. The arms race and the space race both filled the head of young Kovic as he and his friend "made contingency plans for the cold war and built fallout shelters out of milk cartons" (Kovic 56). The atmosphere even struck emotional chords when he discusses the Soviet's launch of the Sputnik satellite and Kovic weeps in his room because, "we were losing the space race, and America wasn't first anymore" (Kovic 59). The Communist shadow enveloped the nation, and as a child Kovic felt that "the communists were all over the place back then" and he even became convinced that one of his teachers was a Communist agent (Kovic 60). This is further reflected in his finding a hero in the lead role of "I Led Three Lives," a television show about an American double agent infiltrating the Communist lines (Kovic 59). These influences ultimately lead to Kovic's decision to enter military service, believing that he may become like John Wayne to fight for the American way.

This changed for many who returned from the war, however. Kovic and thousands like him who returned home severely wounded and disfigured found themselves tucked away from the public eye, and feeling ignored when in plain sight. Kovic spent months in a low-quality veteran's hospital laying in his own urine and excrement as a result of malicious neglect. When the public saw him he felt as though he represented an indecent reminder of the brutality of their cause (perhaps because John Wayne never came home in a wheel chair), but all the while he saw himself as its defining product. He was even told by one television show producer that the presence of his condition on their show would not be "tasteful," adding "people have seen it on the six o'clock news and their tired of it" (Kovic 148). Kovic felt used as though "he had never been anything but a thing to them, a thing to put a uniform on and train to kill, a young thing to run through the meat-grinder" (Kovic 166). America ignored his sacrifices, and he soon became determined to enter the protesting circuit, forcing people look at him so that they can "be reminded of what they'd done when they'd sent [his] generation off to war" (Kovic 150).

Slowly the face of the enemy began to change. The brotherhood he once found in the Marines he now found with hippies, the same people he had vowed would "pay" for protesting the war back in Vietnam (Kovic 134). For Kovic and protestors like him, President Nixon and the government had become prime targets of their dissatisfaction. He told Roger Mudd in one spontaneous interview that, "I gave America my all and the leaders of this government threw me and others away to rot in their V.A. hospitals" (Kovic 180). He felt that the war was "the biggest lie and hypocrisy of all" and that all the money spent on the war "should be spent on healing and helping the wounded" (Kovic 178).

In the crippled embodiment of Kovic and other protesters many Americans found another enemy. Kovic met with great opposition and was even violently beaten for speaking out against the war. On many occasions he was even called a "commie" and a "traitor" (Kovic 150, 155, 184), signifying that in their eyes he had become as demonic as those they had praised him for fighting. America was dividing against itself, as it would become time for the veterans, hippies, politicians, and war supporters to take turns wearing the horns. The cannons of American hatred turned from the "evil" Communists around to the domestic enemy within. The 1960s were a decade of replaced anger and hostility, and in many ways a breakdown of American confidence and a redefining of what it meant to be a patriot, and what it meant to be a traitor. Kovic's experiences allowed him to fill both shoes simultaneously. His lesson is one all Americans should be required to read and learn.

While Ronnie Kovic was fighting in Vietnam I was in college playing football and baseball on scholarship. All expenses paid. People told me that I was extraordinary while Ronnie was suffering in a squalid Veterans hospital. And while he was being spit on at the Republican National convention I was learning to believe that I deserved an exceptional life and that I was better than guys like him who had somehow believed the lies our government told about how the communists were going to take over the world unless young men stopped them the way our fathers and uncles had stopped the Nazis and the lunatic Japanese.
I was too cool to believe any of that, and guys like Ronnie were unenlightened. I felt sorry for them.
I have become an old man now and these days I am trying for all I am worth to be a good father to my son who is Ronnie's age. When he began telling me that he was thinking about joining the Marines, I began reading to him from Ron's book. Reading to him at night while he lay in his bed as I had when he was a small boy. I wanted him to know that if he went to war in Iraq and was wounded horribly there, his government and his country would not care about him. I wanted him to know that the same people who were in power in America and who sent Ron off to war, were in power once again. The same pathetic collection of clowns and liars eager to have wars so long as they and their children don't have to fight them. Cowards, really. I told my son that he would be fighting for a commander in cheif and a vice president and a secretary of state who are cowards. I told my son that the same conservative republicans who spit on Ron Kovic after he gave his body for America were in power once again and that he could expect them to spit upon him when he came home from war if he opposed them. Ron Kovic's magnificent book persuaded my son not to fight for his country in Iraq. I am forever in the author's debt.

Get sucked into a incredible book where a 13 year old girl named Charrolett and her neighboor,Shannon,discover a ghost that lives in Charrolett's house!They found out that the ghost,Susie,died from a fireworkthat was triggered!Who killed Susie?Does her family find her?Read The Ghost Sitter and find out.

If you like ghost stories read this book called "The Ghost Sitter."
It's about a girl named Charlotte she lives in a house that is haunted by a girl named Susie that died in the garage of that house and her sister told her to stay in the house until she comes back. If you like this review read this book, beware you might be scared while you read it or cry at the end.

The Ghost Sitter is about a ten year old girl who has been stuck in this house for 50 years.This story takes place in a house with a graveyard a foot away.The conflict in this story is that a girl named Susie and she was dead and didnt know it. Brandon seemed attached to her but Charolet refuses that there is a ghost in her nwe house.After the cookout with the Kohns ,and Shannons family and then the story of "Sparkler Susie" Lottie started to belive it.

To start with The Ghost Sitter is about a ten year old girl who usted to live at the house in the story with her family.then on a July 4 her sister and her were playing with fireworks and someone dared her to hold a firework then let go.When she did she held it to long and when it exploed she dided.Then her sister said dont leave that she would come back for her.The setting mostly takes place at the house in the story.The proublem in this story is that there is a ghost that lives in this house however only little kids can see her and she loves to babysit.The conflict in this story is Chrollet and the neighbor look in the phonbook for someone named Gloria and the found where they burried Sparkler Susie and they looked and looked for this graveyard and they found a place where the vines and grass hadnt been cut .they go up there and they find her tombstone and then left a note on her sistres gravystone. a couple days latter someone named Gloria came and said that sh was Susies sister but she didnt belive her. then she sid that she had been dead for 50 years.This is resolevd by Susie finally belives her and she can finally leave and then the house isnt haunted anymore

To start with The Ghost Sitter ia about a ten year old girl who usted to live at this house with her family.Then one July 4 she was playing with a firework and she held it to long then she dided.Glora said that she would come back for her and then she could never leave this house. This story is mostly about a new family who moves into a house that has a graveyard right behind the house. The conflict in this srory is that there is a ghost that lives there however only kids can see her and play with her. Charollet and their nieghibor asked where she was burried and they went to all the grave yards and finally found her tombstone and they left a note on her sisters gravestone and then a couple of days later Gloria her sister came and Susie went with her sister and the house wasn't hunted anymore.