Product Description
Frannie always thought her town was a wonderful place to grow up. But then she becomes friends with Celeste, the first black girl to go to Quiver Junior High, when they are both chosen to be in a special singing ensemble at school. Frannie saw people treat Celeste differently from the very beginning, but when she's cut from the ensemble just before a very important competition, the truth can't be ignored. Quiver is not as great as Frannie thought, and the two find evidence proving it used to be much worse.

Set in Oklahoma in the 1960's, The Starplace shows how special friendships can alter perspectives-whether you're ready or not.

School Library Journal said "Vicki Grove tells many truths about adolescents trying to discover their place in the world," in a starred review for The Crystal Garden. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (20)

Review of "The Starplace"
Set in Quiver, Oklahoma in 1961, a 13-year old girl named Frannie becomes friends with an African-American girl Celeste.Celeste is the first and only African-American student to attend Quiver Junior High School.Initially, Frannie grapples with having a friendship with Celeste or maintaining the acceptance of her peers.This friendship blossoms after the two are selected to be a part of an all-girl vocal ensemble.Through this friendship, Frannie learns a lot about prejudice, segregation, and injustice. Through Celeste's fathers' research of his genealogy, the girls realize that the town of Quiver holds a lot of secrets including include a history of Klan activity.The two girls find a secret "starplace" where thy meet and share their deepest inner most thoughts. This book falls into the genre of historical fiction.The accounts in the story are historically accurate, but unfortunately some of the actions of the characters are far too unrealistic for the time period for which the book is written. Most of the students are far too welcoming of Celeste.Also, Celeste's characterization is far too idealized, portraying her as having all positive traits. The feeling of the early 1960s is strong in spite of a few phrases and slang terms that sound more modern.This book is for middle and junior high students, but I would only use this book after careful consideration.In addition, the students would need background knowledge of Klan activity and the horrid acts committed by its members.This aspect is only slightly touched upon in the novel.

Racisim
This book is about two girl's, Nancy And Celeste that become friend's one white and one black, the town doesn't really appreciate having black people in their town especially becoming friend's with what they call negro's!!! They have a history of racisim but they naver could get through it! So will Nancy stay with her naew best friend or will she dump her for town's reputation. I really recommened this book for all teenager's to read about racisim and how it could ruein A best friend's relationship!!!

A Very Great Book
The Starplace was a very great book. It was about a girl named Frannie who lives in a town called Quiver. The setting is back in the 1960s when there was a lot of racism. In the town of Quiver, there aren't many blacks in this town, there is a haunted house were an old man use to live. Everyone thinks that the house is haunted. One ordinary day Frannie was going to her moms work and sees a black man going out from her office. Frannie finds out that he has bought the old haunted house. The man has a daughter named Celeste. When summer break ends and Frannie and her friends go back to school, she sees Celeste at school. No one talks to her because of the color of her skin. When people pass by her in the hallway they stay at least five feet away. Celeste happens to be the first colored girl to go to the Quiver school. Frannie starts talking to her and they become the best of friends. Many other people that Frannie hangs out with talk to Celeste, too. They stick up for her and hang out with her. Celeste is a very good singer. She takes choir class with Frannie. They try out for a group for singers and they both make it. They sing all around the town of Quiver. Then when they have reauditions Celeste does not make the team because the color of her skin. This makes Frannie very upset. Frannie one day sees Celeste and her father in her backyard looking at the field behind her house. Frannie is very curious. Frannie sees them picking up something that looks like a burnt finger.Celeste tells her everything about her great grandfather that had to do with that field and a cave in the woods. Celeste and her dad moved to Quiver because her dad wanted to write a book about the cave and the field. There are many mysteries that have to do with the field and the cave. The book that her dad writes has to do with her great granfather and his time in Quiver. It has to do with the poeple hanging the colored people in their town. In addition, the cave has to do with where a colored guy was dragged after he was beaten and cut many times. Celeste was very sad and emotional over this. When her and Frannie were in the cave they found mangles that happened to be from the colored guy that was beaten. At the end, Celeste gives her the burnt finger which is actually a harmonica that was her great grandfathers. The book is called Starplace because Celeste and Frannie have a place where they like to hang out and they like to sing with each other. They call it their Starplace. They call each other star sisters. The main conflict in this book is just because Celeste is colored people do not talk to her and try to avoid her. Frannie makes a difference by talking to her and had people starting to talk to her. This book has a lot to do about racism. Frannie trys to create a difference by having a colored friend and showing that they are not different then regular white people. This book is good to read if you like books about true friendships. If you like a little mystery there is some in here for you to read. Girls and Boys should read this it could teach you a thing or two about friendships and how important they are.

Steph's Review
A black girl moves to a "white town," and isn't treated the best by her peers.However, a girl named Frannie befriends her, and so does a small group of girls.She came with her father, to find out about their family history, and they discovered some interesting things about their ansestors.The klu klux klan had been terrorizing her family for a long time, but she responded better than most people would, she didn't try to get revenge or anything.After a while, Frannie and her friends didn't care about what other people thought about them hanging out with Celeste, and they stuck up for her, even when she would't stick up for herself.This is a very good book that makes what happend in the past, directly after segragation was outlawed, very interesting and you can really relate to this book, and understand everything.

one of the star sisters
One of the star sisters

When school starts at Quiver Junior High Celeste is the new student and the first ever black student. When Frannie meets Celeste she likes her and wants to be her friend but wonders what others will say. Frannie has also had been planning a luau. With Celeste in her choir class they try out for the soloist group to see if they can beat the popular girls. Read the book to figure out if Celeste makes friends, if the luau goes according to plan, and if Celeste and Frannie make the cut.

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Product Description
FOR USE IN SCHOOLS AND LIBRARIES ONLY. The last thing a fourteen-year-old boy expects to find along an old Ozark river bottom is a tree full of monkeys. Jay Berry Lee's grandpa had an explanation, of course--as he did for most things. The monkeys had escaped from a traveling circus, and thereAmazon.com Review
Jay Berry Lee is happy until the summer he is 14 years old and discoversmonkeys living in the creek bottoms near his parents' homestead. Set in thelate 1800s, Summer of the Monkeys traces the boy's adventures as heattempts to capture 29 monkeys that have (it turns out) escaped from thecircus. With somewhat dubious help from his grandfather, and over theobjections of his mother, Jay goes about discovering that monkeys are muchsmarter and harder to catch than he thought possible. Woven into this storyis a second theme about his physically disabled sister and the family'sattempts to find money for an operation. As funny and touching as WilsonRawls's Where the Red FernGrows, this book will appeal to the young reader who has alwayswished for the freedom to run wild through the woods with nothing morepressing to do than find another rabbit hole--or escaped monkey. (Ages 12and older) --Richard Farr ... Read more

Customer Reviews (116)

great book for young boys
great book i remembered reading it as kid so i bought it to give to my kids

Summer of the Monkeys
Summer of the Monkeys This book was suggested by another teacher.She said her students loved it and wanted her to keep reading each day.It is a good read for students, full of descriptive language, similes, and helps them to see a time before handheld games, the Internet, and other devices we use daily.

Fantastic book for kids and adults alike
My 5th grade teacher read this book to our class way back in the day.I liked it so much, my Mom checked it out from the library and read it to all of my siblings.Now as an adult with 3 kids of my own, I just finished reading it to them.They loved it, I love it, my husband loves it. It is just a classic book that everyone should read.

Should be aimed at younger readers
Summer of the Monkeys may be historical fiction, but the dialogue is pretty modern and bland.More accurate dialogue would have added charm and humor.Also, the boy compares fireflies to "a million flashlights."The flashlight had not been invented.A quibble, yes, but come on.It takes you out of the story.I thought the challenge of the monkeys was funny, but everything else predictable. The denouement was beyond sappy, beyond belief, and way too saccharine.And the closing paragraph seemed tacked on and rushed.The book, I think, would be best enjoyed by 4th or 5th graders.The writing and plotting is just too simplistic for middle schoolers.

Summer of the Monkeys
This is the first time I have read "Wilson Rawls" and, although essentially a children's book, I enjoyed his writing very much.It captures the heart and touches some part of our childhood.The plot was quite interesting as well, with boy things versus girl things, having a sick child who finds a world of expression and selflessness and parents with only a hope of getting her treated due to lack of money, then the twist of fate in things turning out all right. ... Read more

Product Description
This digital document is an article from Techniques, published by Association for Career and Technical Education on March 1, 2000. The length of the article is 2744 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: The Way Out.
Author: Kelley M. Blassingame
Publication: Techniques (Magazine/Journal)
Date: March 1, 2000
Publisher: Association for Career and Technical Education
Volume: 75Issue: 3Page: 18

Distributed by Thomson Gale ... Read more

Product Description

New York's social darling Isabella Kirkwood just woke up in a nightmare: Oklahoma. Problem is, it's right where God wants her.

Bella Kirkwood had it all: A-list friends at her prestigious private school, Broadway in her backyard, and Daddy's MasterCard in her wallet. Then her father, a plastic surgeon to the stars, decided to trade her mother in for a newer model.

When Bella's mom falls in love with a man she met on the Internet--a factory worker with two bratty sons--Bella has to pack up and move in with her new family in Truman, Oklahoma. On a farm no less!

Forced to trade her uber-trendy NYC lifestyle for her down-home charm, Bella feels like a pair of Rock & Republic jeans in a sea of Wranglers.

At least some of the people in her new high school are pretty cool. Especially the hunky football player who invites her to lunch. And maybe even the annoying--but kinda hot--editor of the school newspaper.

But before long, Bella smells something rotten in the town of Truman, and it's not just the cow pasture. With her savvy reporter's instincts, she is determined to find the story behind all the secrets.

How can-a girl go on when her charmed life is gone and God appears to be giving her the total smackdown?

Customer Reviews (70)

So very much more than a kid's book!
So Not Happening (The Charmed Life) is a light and fluffy book filled with lots of twists and turns in plot and characterization. It is so much more than what it appears to be on the surface. Jenny B. Jones has such skill as a writer, that you will immediately become involved with her heroine's life, feeling every bit of pain as she learns the lessons that her new life teaches her.

So Not Happening is presented to be Christian fiction, but there is nothing preachy to be found, and people of any faith will definitely enjoy it. I can't wait to search out everything else written by Jenny B. Jones.

Recommended!

Best book i've ever read!
So Not Happening is a book mixed with romance,action, and mystery with a hint of wit and suspence. Bella Kirkwood's world suddenly gets turned upside down when her recently divorced mom finds love through the internet, and has decided to move to her and Bella to her newlywed's house in Oklahoma. Bella suddenly finds herself tradeing high class New York City for mid-western Oklahoma.Bella already has so much to deal with the big move, but can she also find out what small town Truman has to hide?

I absoulutly loved this book! Jenny B. Jones has created an amazing book that has romance, action,mystery, and suspense all rolled into one!I would deffinatly recommened this book to teens of all ages!

One of the funniest YA books ever!
Jenny B. Jones has become one of my favorite authors in only three books. She has a easy-going and funny touch on her stories. I would say that her that this Charmed life series could be said to be the young adult version of Erynn Mangum's Lauren Holbrook series.

Now onto the review of the book. I found the overall plot and idea was interesting and I loved the characters. Bella was definitely one of my favorite characters and she was also extremely funny. There was also a Nancy Drew element to the story that worked very well. A few things were predictable, but I think that to others it might not be.

Overall this book was fantastic and I could not wait to read the next book in the series! I highly recommend this book and the series.

I'd also like to note that this is a Christian author and series, but it is very light-hearted. Jenny B Jones doesn't preach in these books, but shows how a Christian girl lives in her everyday life. I recommend these books even if you don't enjoy Christian books.

Perfect for 8th grade - surprises inside~
My 8th grader found this a very fun book to read. She felt really connected to the characters and the text was full of surprises with a lot of suspense. "It was not easily predictable, usually my predictions were way off," she said. She also read the second book in this series and plans to read the third. While the writing was probably the level of a 7th grader, but she did not get bored with it and would definitely read the book a second time. Jer overall opinion was, "It was fantastic!"

New York Meets The Farm
I'm a huge Jenny B. Jones fan but when I first picked up this book, I thought "Oh no...another character in a YA book named Bella????" Luckily this Bella has nothing to do with that another character that shares her name and there are no sparkly vampires in this book. Instead this Bella has to deal with going from being Gossip Girl royalty to living with Old MacDonald.

While I felt bad for her because of how things happened so quickly, I thought it was quite fun to read about Bella's transformation from city chick to country gal. I think though what made it a little harder is that Bella seems very nice. She's not stuck up, a bit spoiled maybe, but not like a whiny socialite. So when her new school suddenly turns on her, I just felt so sympathetic for her. Although, if she had said something mean about me I probably would not be feeling that way. It's interesting how it's the ENTIRE school that gets angry. I swear kids who go to schools in the Midwest tend to be extremely close to each other.

This treatment would lead to her trying to get into good graces with the newspaper editor. I understand why Luke was hard on Bella and all the tasks he made her do ended up being good for her. Still, he annoyed me and I'm not ashamed to say that I was so glad when she stood up to him and was able to prove him wrong several times. What's great about the book is that it's not just about Bella but also the story of peer pressure and the dangers behind it. It's extremely relevant with what is going on in high schools today and I feel that teens who read it will be able to relate to what's going on. The plot is not light and happy then, it's quite serious.

This was a really fun read all around. At over 300 pages, it's longer and a bit more heavier in material than most general market YA chick lit. It's considered Christian fiction, but honestly I don't think people who don't like God and other preachy stuff hidden in stories will get offended. The story is more about Bella learning to grow up and become more mature. There's a lot of laughs in this book (I nearly died when Bella finds out her stepdad's secret) and it's a feel good read. If you're a fan of Jenny's books, you're going to love this one as well. If you've never read her, this is a great place to start and I bet you will think she fits right up there with the general market YA authors. This is one of those reads where I'm pretty much guaranteeing that you will love it. HIGHLY recommended. ... Read more

Product Description

The largest land grab in American history was the opening of the Cherokee strip in 1893. This book narrates the triumphs and struggles of those days as experienced in the life of Pioneer James Secord's daughter, Mildred, her sibliings, and her own family.

The powerful influence of frontier preachers is told as well as the influences of the country school teacher who taught eight grades in one room. The results with the discipline of life in Cherokee Strip produced in the Secord family: college professors, ministers, missionaries, farmers and school teachers.

Mildred became a school teacher at Fairview school. She married the Farmer boy who promised to get her away from it all. Starting with Horse and Buggy he went to Model T's, Farms, much Machinery, lots of Livestock, and a large family on Credit. They went through three of the greatest social and economic changes of the 20th Century. Depression, Dust bowl days, WWII.

The book is the opposite of Steinbeck's GRAPES OF WRATH. We were in debt too far to sell out. Father taught us to work, Mother taught us to Pray. The Hope of "next year we will get a bigger crop and a better price" happened in WWII. Mildred prayed five boys through the War. When all the boys came home the large family became College professors, Farmers, Ministers and School Teachers just like the pioneer Secord family did a generation earlier. ... Read more