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The Family Nobody Wanted
Manufacturer: The Peoples Book Club
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000FPFF0U |
Product Description
Editorial Reviews
Book Description
This long-awaited new edition of Helen Doss's beloved memoir, originally published in 1954, is the remarkable and inspiring true story of a couple who adopted twelve children, ten of them considered "unadoptable" because of mixed racial parentage. Doss's charming, touching, and at times hilarious chronicle tells how each of the children, representing white, Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, Korean, Mexican, and Native American backgrounds, came to her and husband Carl, a Methodist minister. She writes of the way the "unwanted" feeling was erased with devoted love and understanding and how the children united into one happy family. Her account reads like a novel, with scenes of hard times and triumphs described in vivid prose.
The Family Nobody Wanted, which inspired two films, opened doors for other adoptive families and was a popular favorite among parents, young adults, and children for more than thirty years. Now this edition will introduce the classic to a new generation of readers. An epilogue by Helen Doss that updates the family's progress since 1954 will delight the book's loyal legion of fans around the world. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
About the Author
Helen Doss has been a writer and an internationally known advocate for adoptive families for more than fifty years. She has published numerous articles in such national periodicals as American Girl and Reader's Digest, and is the author of thirteen books, including All the Children of the World and Really Real Family and the coauthor (with Carl Doss) of If You Adopt a Child. She lives with her husband Roger Reed in Yuba City, California. Mary Battenfeld is Associate Professor of Humanities at Wheelock College. She is the author of several articles on teaching and multicultural literature, and the mother of two children adopted from India. She lives in the Boston area. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Book Description
Doss's charming, touching, and at times hilarious chronicle tells how each of the children, representing white, Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, Korean, Mexican, and Native American backgrounds, came to her and husband Carl, a Methodist minister. She writes of the way the "unwanted" feeling was erased with devoted love and understanding and how the children united into one happy family. Her account reads like a novel, with scenes of hard times and triumphs described in vivid prose.
The Family Nobody Wanted, which inspired two films, opened doors for other adoptive families and was a popular favorite among parents, young adults, and children for more than thirty years. Now this edition will introduce the classic to a new generation of readers. An epilogue by Helen Doss that updates the family's progress since 1954 will delight the book's loyal legion of fans around the world.
Customer Reviews:
This Book Probably Changed My Life.......2007-04-15
When I was in fifth grade, I remember I was sitting in music class when the librarian stopped by to ask me to return this book. One of the teachers wanted to use it in class, and I'd had it out so long, no one else could get a shot at it!
I was an only child, very bookish and introverted. I read and reread this book. I married a guy who planned to become a Methodist minister (like Helen Doss) and we have four bio kids and two adopted from Haiti. I always wanted to adopt, which I'm sure came from this book. I was probably drawn to my husband at least partly because of the warm and fuzzy feeling about Methodist pastors that I had from this book.
Reading things as a kid, you pick up on the stuff you like and ignore the stuff you don't. The Dosses adopted most of their kids as babies (with some exceptions). They did have some difficult issues one summer when they took a Native American boy in for a vacation in their family. I ignored this part of the book, focusing on the wonderful and easy other kids. We adopted an older boy from Haiti and it's been rough for him and for us. I should have paid more attention when I was reading, maybe . . . We also adopted a baby girl, and that's been great.
One of my favorite books ever. I didn't know there was a new edition with updates on the family--I'll have to get it just for the updates, although I own an older copy. By the way, my parents never ever talked to me about racism. We had no friends of different races. I imagine I formed my beliefs that "we are all brothers" regardless of color, mostly from this book.
Wonderful story of love and family.......2006-08-23
I read Helen Doss' heartwarming book in grade school and am thrilled to see it back in print. Carl and Helen Doss, a young couple struggling to get Carl through divinity school, adopt a baby boy. Without really planning it, they adopt eleven more children!
Mrs. Doss' book is more than just a memoir of her precious children; it's also an indictment of a social service system that, through prejudice, denied who-knows-how-many mixed-race children loving homes. So many couples could have known the joy of children and given loving homes to them in return. Her book helped raise awareness and open doors (and hearts) to the needs of "unadoptables." Thanks to families like hers, those policies are now dead.
I've thought of the twelve adoptees over the years, and wondered how their lives turned out. Mrs. Doss gives an update of sorts in this new, revised addition, but left out more detail for privacy concerns. I hope one of them decides to expand on mom's work someday. Five stars.
The Family Nobody Wanted.......2006-02-15
This book is very heartwarming and can touch anyones heart. This book talks about a couple that can't have children so then they go to another option which is adoption. First of all they are a very poor couple and can barely afford food. They go apply for adoption and get declined they then fix the problems with their financial needs and then apply again getting approved. They get their first baby boy, Donny. They have trouble taking care of him since their very afraid of 'breaking one of his bones'. But they get through after that they apply for MORE AND MORE children and go through troubles along the way. At the end they adopt 12 CHILDREN and get in an article in a magazine. This book was really nice and I recommend it to anyone who wants to read a comforting story...
Life-changing.......2006-01-19
I'm so pleased to see this title back in print. I read it, and re-read it, and re-re-read it many times as a young teen. And I owe this book the credit for my two precious children, who joined our family shortly after their births.
The Family Nobody Wanted.......2005-08-09
Heartwarming! I absolutely love this book. Helen Doss and her family have touched so many lives over the years with their story of what love and family, commitment and priorities are all about. As a teenager I read a copy of my mother's that I still have. Over the years I have spoken with other people who had read the book and was looking for a copy of it. After combing garage sales and book sales without finding even one copy, I was so happy to see that this book is back in print!
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Nobody Asked ME If I Wanted a Baby Sister
Martha G. Alexander
Manufacturer: Charlesbridge Publishing
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ASIN: 1570916799 |
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The Family Nobody Wanted
Manufacturer: Chicago: Peoples Book Club, 1954
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000I3C5JI |
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- An enlightening view into the Army Ordinance Corps
- Careful, Hallahan
- How bureaucracy worked against a citizen army
- A scorching crticism
- A fascinating work of history that is highly relevant today
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Misfire
William H. Hallahan
Manufacturer: Scribner
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Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0684193590 |
Customer Reviews:
An enlightening view into the Army Ordinance Corps.......2006-03-19
decison-making on small arms selections that often cost American lives. The most revealing is the botching of the M16 introduction by changing the powder used in the early cartridges causing jams which sent young Americans into battle with rifles that wouldn't shoot facing down Viet Cong with the more reliable AK-47.
The Army Ordinance Corps simply has let the criterion of long-range accuracy dominate their rifle selections when history has shown that most encounters occur at closer range. This guiding principle was in play back when Custer's men entered the valley of the Little Big Horn with their single-shot trap door Springfields with superior range and accuracy to the Indian's files. Custer's were outgunned by Indians carrying shorter range repeating rifles - the famous massacre followed because of inadequate firepower from the cavalry.
This book depicts a bureaucracy in action which , for over a century, made decisons based on long-range rifle accuracy regardless of previous results. As such, it a fascinating book on organizational failure based on a self-perpetuating myth: long-range shooting wins the day in infantry battles.
Careful, Hallahan.......2003-10-20
While the author presents a very interesting and enlightening view of army ordnance and small arms, the book has some holes. The most annoying with respect to the thesis is that the author consistently introduces men in the Ordnance department as new and progressive, and then two pages later they're reactionary with no explanation of the transformation.
Furthermore, as soon as he strays from strictly smallarms matters (especially in the chapters concerning the period between the World Wars), his statements vary from misleading to blatantly incorrect. Also, he describes the Dreyse needle-gun, differently, three times, and only gets it right once. This leads me to doubt the accuracy of the book with weapons I am not as familiar with. Finally, there are a surprising number of typos and grammatical errors.
I highly recommend reading it, but keep a supply of salt grains handy while you do.
How bureaucracy worked against a citizen army.......2001-05-07
Hallahan reveals a horrifying picture in this book: how bureaucracy and politics made the US troops be equiped with inadequate small arms for 180 years. Although he puts the main blame on the Army Ordance Corps, he is actually accusing the whole U.S. military system. His book shows how a "concept" can dominate the military thinking for so long and deep in such a way that the whole military system allows some incompetent military administrators' worries about shuffling extra paperworks to overrule its responsibilites to win wars quickly and save soliders' lives.
This is an excellent book showing how an unrestricted techno-bureaucracy can easily fail the people's trust. We have seen it happened in the ex-USSR, and now we have another example right in our court yard.
A scorching crticism.......1999-07-07
Though there are some errors in his historical procedure - Hallahan sometimes puts out info and dosen't back it up with historical data the book is excellent. If one believes that our goverment and senior leadership supplies only the best equipment to our troops read this book. If one thinks that goverment can run ANYTHING more efficiently then private industry read this book. And if one is thinking about enlisting head full of Tom Clancy's prose and recruiting commercials - well you know. I wish this book was still in print. An excellent read.
A fascinating work of history that is highly relevant today.......1999-07-01
Why is Hallahan's "Misfire" out of print only five years after its publication? As important as this book's message is, it's far more than the pinpointing of a disastrous military philosophy; more even than an indictment of military boneheadedness and the incredible intransigence of bumbling bureaucrats. It's also an engaging work of history with threads stretching back to the Revolutionary War, with intriguing sidelights on a number of historical figures including Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln and his cabinet, almost down to the present--all written in lively prose. Very readable from beginning to end, and highly recommended.
Book Description
Renegade bomber Ken Taki re-emerges, but the only thing he's looking to blow up is his relationship with the syndicate. He wants to walk -- they'd rather see him carried out. Can the Cats get him out in one piece?
Customer Reviews:
Collection #2 of Kenichi Sonoda's Chicago crime series.......2007-06-11
First things first, this collection of Gunsmith Cats is probably the weakest of the entire series. with that said, it's only because it's the end of one series of stories and the beginning of another. So from a plot stand point it feels like a bunch of odds and ends. If anything it's a midpoint of a trilogy of books "Bonnie and Clyde", "Misfire" and "Return of Gray".
But what do you get in this book? It starts off with a bang, literally. Sonoda introduces Gray, a top man in a criminal syndicate and the lead villain of the next book. We also get our first real appearance of Bean Bandit, the expert transporter who becomes a regular character in later adventures. This first set of stories gives us some nice background on Minnie May as well. The next two stories are pure fun, stand-alone tales. "Jamming" pits Minnie May and Rally in a little argument that gets out of control (and takes some goofy burglars along with it. "Muzzle and Edge" introduces Misty, the knife wielding thief. Misty becomes an important character in later books and her intro to Rally is classic. The conclusion of the story is a bit weak and ends the stand-alones on a whimper.
The real meat of the book kicks in with Gray returning and getting his hands on Minnie May and Becky. This was the beginning of the first full adventure and Gunsmith Cats and it showcases Sonoda's skill with action, car chases and one-uping finale's. Gray is a tough customer and really makes things difficult for the girls. The story gets cooking and then... ends?
"Misfire" is a strange book. It's got great material and you need to read it if you're going to enjoy the next book. My favorite chapters are probably "Jamming" and the car chase that erupts in "Sight In" and carries on till the end of the book. From an art point of view, things are improved on from the first book (but our leads still look a bit different from the way they look in later books, especially Becky). The action is easy to follow and carries from panel to panel with ease. Only the stuttering nature of the story brings it down and I end up only reading it if I'm willing to do the first three books back to back. So as part of the trilogy it gets higher marks, but as it's own book, it's average.
*** A Note ***
Hey, those burglars from "Jamming" look familiar. That's right, some of the same crew shows up at Rally's house again in the anime version of "Gunsmith Cats". Were these guys too stupid to stay away after getting shot up the first time? In addition am I the only one that thinks that Misty looks a lot like a younger version of Priss from the original Bubblegum Crisis series. Misty could be her kid sister. Sonoda loves using the similar character designs (they show up again in "Cannon God Exaxxion".
The Great Action Continues.......2001-09-08
The action continues in the second volume of Gunsmith Cats.
Someone is planting bombs and making demands. The work looks familiar to some of the more experienced police officers, but things may not be as they appear to be. Plus, Rally makes someone a little mad, and now he wants to kill her. During all of this, some friction developes between Rally and Minnie May. Their gun shop gets broken into too. Yep! I'm being vague, but this is a review, not a spoiler.
Ken Taki shows up, and we learn where Minnie May learned some of her skills. This is the first appearance of Ken, and he's only in a small part of this volume even if a large chunk of the plot involves him. We also learn just how young Rally and May really are.
This is not for kids as the very first sentence in the book should tell you. There is mature content. You have all of the elements of a good quality, R-rated action movie. The sexual material is more suggestive here than in the first volume. You saw the outline of things there. Here it's mainly suggestive comments and a few things taking place just outside of the frame.
I would recommend this to any fan of action movies. This is the second volume of the series. It might work on its own, but there is more to the story which is continued in the next volume - Return of Gray.
Fast Action, Slick Fun, and Witty-ness up the Wazoo.......1999-07-13
Okay.. so my title description says it all. The Gunsmith Cats series is pretty seriously gripping unlike almost ALL the other comics I've ever read. It has irony (which I like), some very cool plots with indescribable artistry that redefines two dimensional action in a comic. You'll be hooked.
1 Good Book!.......1999-06-25
If girls,guns,car chases and bombs are your thing the check yhis one out
man it rules!.......1999-02-03
it's one heck of a show. everything in it looks good. i wish other cartoons are like these.
Book Description
You don't have to know much about the Civil War to be familiar with Robert E. Lee, Ulysses S. Grant, Stonewall Jackson, or William Tecumseh Sherman. Bull's-Eyes and Misfires, however, tells the fascinating stories of fifty largely unknown people who dramatically changed the course of the Civil War by their heroic efforts or bungling mistakes. Here are the stories of:
Col. George Rains who used his skill as a businessman to build a gunpowder factory in Augusta, Georgia that was impressive in its efficiency even by modern standards and manufactured nearly three million pounds of powder. The Confederacy lacked many things, but gunpowder was not one of them.
Confederate Maj. John Barry ordered the volley that wounded (and eventually killed) Stonewall Jackson at Chancellorsville. One can only speculate how the outcome of the War might have been different had Barry not accidentally shot his own general.
Julia Grant, the wife of Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, kept her husband sober and focused by just showing up and living near him before and after nearly every major battle. When she was not around, he drank out of loneliness. When she was around, his Army won battles.
Gen. James Wolfe Ripley hated waste so much that he refused to buy modern repeating weapons for the Union Army. He believed soldiers would fire without taking aim. His decision not to distribute superior weapons for at least a year delayed the end of the war.
Customer Reviews:
Johnson mis-fires on Ripley.......2007-02-24
General James Ripley's efforts as Chief of Ordnance put more reliable, mass produced, and effective weapons in Union Soldiers hands than any before or after him. Ripley did not (like so many claim without really looking at all available sources) stand in the way of innovation, but rather the chaos and confusion of non-standardized arms and ammunition. Ripley inherited a department that in 1861 had 600 different types of artillery ammunition, more than forty different types of cartidges for shoulder arms, and barely produced 14,000 weapons a year. By 1863 Artillery ammunition was reduced to only 140 different types, and the Springfield Armory was producing over 218,000 weapons yearly. As to Ripley turning down the Spencer rifle, Ripley's judgement was sound and right on. First, the Spencer was never really able to be mass produced like the Springfield. By June 1862 three promised deliveries had not been made, so the order was cut from 10,000 to 7,500. The reason for the delays were obvious; the gun still needed modifications to work properly. Problems obtaining skilled workers, machine tool parts, and raw material also delayed the Spencer. In all only about 12,000 Spencer rifles were delivered during the War. Of the M1860 Carbines, almost half of those produced never made it to the hands of troops before the South surrendered. General Ripley was an ordnance officer since 1814; he was an expert, and understood that breech loading was the next step in weapons evolution. He just did not feel that any one weapon had this principle perfected enough to be mass produced. Dependable ammunition for these guns was still several years away from full development and he knew it. It wasn't the Ghost of Ripley or something "strange" that made the standard weapon of the Cavalry the Model 1873 Springfield carbine. It was the fact that it worked well and the Spencer didn't. S.E. Whitman writes in The Troopers: "Because of the demonstrated faults found in all repeating carbines available at the time, the Ordnance Department reverted to a foolproof weapon of its own design, the Model 1873 Springfield carbine, which was to be the mainstay of the Cavalry until the 1890's."
At the time Ripley left as chief of Ordnance, the .58 Cailiber Springfield rifle was the standard weapon of choice for the Army. There was no shortage of these reliable standardized weapons or their ammunition. Ripley accomplished this by making his department a production agency for standardized, reliable, time tested weapons rather than a research and development facility in time of war. In my judgement this accomplishment hastened the Civil War's end, not prolonged it.
Really Obscure People/ Really Significant Events.......2005-12-28
Although I am no "buff," I consider myself fairly well read on the Civil War and I only recognized about ten of the fifty names here and almost none of the stories discussed. The author's research makes it clear, though, that these people had a very important role in the war. You can object to his classifications - most people would think Colonel Gorgas was one of the best administrators either side had, not the "misfire" Mr. Johnson claims him to be - but challenging his judgments is part of the fun.
True stories about fifty different people.......2002-12-08
Compiled and written by Civil War Reenactor and enthusiast Clint Johnson, Bull's Eyes And Misfires is an unique anthology of true stories about fifty different people whose obscure and often overlooked roles had lasting impact on the course of the American Civil War. Ranging from how Joseph Anderson and George Rains efficiently kept the Confederacy supplied with cannon and gunpowder, to how Julia Grant helped her husband General U. S. Grant win battles, to "Crazy Bet" Van Lew who ran one of the best possible spy networks for the North, to a series of terrible and costly mistakes of judgment attributed to leaders on both sides, Bull's Eyes And Misfires offers a wealth of lore and evidence of how even small details can have great effects on the tide of battle and is very highly recommended reading for all American History and Civil War buffs.
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Misfire
Jonathan Evans
Manufacturer: M. Joseph
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
General
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| Classics
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| Literary
ASIN: 0718119096 |
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