Epinions Recent Reviews for jenninca

Compass Bank: Three Strikes, You're Out!

Thu, 18 Jul 2002 20:13:02 GMT

rating: 1/5 by: Epinions Author jenninca - When I was looking to open a bank in Dallas, I had been living there for about a month. Until that point, I had been using the debit card from my bank in Columbus for everything. The problem was that the account was running out of money and I couldn't...

Ellen Tebbits: How 1950s Can You Get?

Mon, 27 May 2002 15:02:29 GMT

rating: 3/5 by: Epinions Author jenninca - I’ve been a Beverly Cleary fan for most of my life. While my favorite books of hers are the Ramona ones, I’ve read most of her other ones too, both recently and as a child.

But Ellen Tebbits was one I hadn’t read since childhood—until...

Despite the Depression, There's Christmas After All

Mon, 24 Dec 2001 16:07:02 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author jenninca - When I was younger, I never cared for historical fiction books (except, of course, for my beloved Laura Ingalls Wilder). However, in the last few years, I've discovered the wealth of historical fiction books available for the nine and up set. One of...

West Virginia: Oglebay Resort, Wheeling, West Virginia

Thu, 11 Oct 2001 17:15:02 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author jenninca - This past summer, Ihad the opportunity to spend a few days at the Oglebay Resort in Wheeling, West Virginia with nine of my relatives. It was a unique experience as their ages spanned the whole spectrum, from my grandmother in her 70s to my...

Cynthia Voigt's Homecoming: Everyone Needs a Place to Call Home

Tue, 4 Sep 2001 23:22:31 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author jenninca - I must have been around seventh or eighth grade when it happened. My mother decided that I was too old to be reading from the juvenile section of the library and decided to start me on young adult books. For Christmas, she bought me three books by...

Gordon Korman's Survival: Hatchet Lite

Wed, 29 Aug 2001 08:22:16 GMT

rating: 3/5 by: Epinions Author jenninca - I’ve been a fan of Gordon Korman since childhood. He’s a Canadian author whose “Bruno and Boots” series was first published when he was in high school. Since then, he’s written seemingly dozens of books for middle grade readers, including the recent...

Honolulu Zoo: Honolulu Zoo: Excellent Entertainment Value

Sun, 26 Aug 2001 16:42:34 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author jenninca - While visiting Hawaii a couple of months ago, my brother and I one day decided that we were actually tired of the beach and wanted to try something different. We opted to visit the Honolulu Zoo. We were able to walk there from our hotel on Waikiki...

Ironman: The Angry Athlete

Thu, 23 Aug 2001 08:15:39 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author jenninca - I have never been a big fan of sports. That goes double for any sort of sport that causes extreme physical exertion. I don’t even care to hear or read about them. For all intents and purposes, I should hate Chris Crutcher’s Ironman. Yet, he...

Chasing Redbird: Uncovering the Trail of Life

Tue, 21 Aug 2001 08:10:12 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author jenninca - A few years ago, I had never heard of Sharon Creech. Then I read her book Absolutely Normal Chaos, which was cute, but not overly impressive to me. Then I read her Newbery-winning Walk Two Moons. I liked it okay, but didn’t feel it...

The Music of Dolphins: What Makes You Human?

Sun, 19 Aug 2001 12:06:18 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author jenninca - When Olivia was four year old, the boat in which she, her mother, and her brother were traveling from Cuba to the United States crashed. Olivia was the sole survivor.

She was soon “adopted” by dolphins living in the area where she crashed...

Wringer: Stand Up for Your Convictions

Sat, 11 Aug 2001 11:24:30 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author jenninca - Palmer laRue had the misfortune to be born in Waymer, a town whose Family Fest ends with a barbaric tradition. Thousands of pigeons are gathered or purchased, only to be released and shot on Pigeon Day. Men of the town compete for the Sharpshooter's...

The Bad Beginning's Beginning to Enthrall Me

Mon, 6 Aug 2001 20:12:40 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author jenninca - If you are interested in stories with happy endings, you would be better off reading some other book. In this book, not only is there no happy ending, there is no happy beginning and very few happy things in the middle.” So begins The Bad...

San Jacinto Battleground: Maybe You Have to be a Texan to Understand

Tue, 31 Jul 2001 18:24:21 GMT
rating: 3/5 by: Epinions Author jenninca - I've read most of the reviews of the San Jacinto Memorial that others have written here at Epinions. Many of them speak of the powerful feelings of history, battle, and pride they've felt while standing on the ground there. I've noticed that most of...

Laura Ingalls Wilder's Mother Comes Alive

Sat, 28 Jul 2001 14:42:56 GMT
rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author jenninca - A few years ago, Roger Lea MacBride, a good friend of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s daughter Rose, began a series of books about Rose Wilder Lane’s life. That series must have done well, because three additional series about Laura’s relatives were started...

Twister on Tuesday: The Magic Tree House Heads to the Prairie

Fri, 20 Jul 2001 11:22:54 GMT
rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author jenninca - I can remember that when I was a kid, one of my biggest fears was tornadoes. For that reason, I may not have liked Twister on Tuesday. On the other hand, I loved Laura Ingalls Wilder's books. For that reason, I might have loved...

USS Arizona Memorial: See the Original Pearl Harbor: The U.S.S. Arizona Memorial

Tue, 17 Jul 2001 20:12:04 GMT
rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author jenninca - My father and I visited Pearl Harbor (formally known as the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial) on a Thursday during our recent visit to Hawaii. The bus ride from our Waikiki Beach hotel took about an hour and 15 minutes, and we arrived at 9:45. At that time, the...

Panasonic V4520: Our 1987 VCR Was Better (Helping Hands w/o)

Fri, 13 Jul 2001 09:30:21 GMT
rating: 2/5 by: Epinions Author jenninca - Our old Magnavox VCR purchased in 1987 was quite a trooper. It survived multiple televisions, from the ancient to the big screen. It survived kids learning to program it, and, perhaps more importantly, parents learning to program it. It survived tape...

Spite Fences: No Children's Book, But Darn Good

Thu, 12 Jul 2001 00:04:38 GMT
rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author jenninca - I first heard of Trudy Krisher when I was a student at the University of Dayton. One of the teachers of my children's literature class mentioned her as an author of children's books who worked at the university. Since I had been there for a few years...

I Hope Parenting is Really This Funny: Paul Reiser's Babyhood

Mon, 9 Jul 2001 20:35:20 GMT
rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author jenninca - I'm not a parent, nor do I play one on TV. I am, however, a fan of Paul Reiser. Paul Reiser is a parent, and he plays one on TV. Paul Reiser is also an author. He wrote Couplehood, which I've read about half of and have found to...

Nu'uanu Pali State Wayside: The Shortest Review I've Written for the Smallest State Park I've Seen!

Sun, 8 Jul 2001 19:39:51 GMT
rating: 3/5 by: Epinions Author jenninca - On my family's recent vacation to Hawaii, there were a couple of days where we rented a car and went driving around to see the various sites of Oahu. Whatever we passed as we drove, we stopped to see (of course, it helped that my parents lived in Hawaii...

Iolani Palace State Monument: Iolani Palace--Expensive but Interesting and Educational

Tue, 3 Jul 2001 15:33:18 GMT
rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author jenninca - When my parents said that we could visit a palace during my recent visit to Hawaii, I realized that I'd never been to a palace. How could I? I live in the continental United States, which has never been ruled by a resident monarch. In fact, Iolani...

Would You Survive With Only a Hatchet?

Sat, 30 Jun 2001 11:20:05 GMT
rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author jenninca - I've had Hatchet by Gary Paulsen on my "books to be read" bookshelf for the past couple of years. I don't know why I never read it, except that every time I was about ready to, I'd have a new order of books come in and I'd start in on those ones...

Hanauma Bay State Underwater Park: Fishy Fun at Hanauma Bay

Wed, 27 Jun 2001 17:03:59 GMT
rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author jenninca - My recent vacation to Hawaii allowed me to experience a lot of new and unusual things. One of the most unusual things I tried during the week I was there was snorkeling. The snorkeling took place at Hanauma Bay in Honolulu, Hawaii.

We...

Kids Love Judy Moody!

Fri, 15 Jun 2001 17:49:26 GMT
rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author jenninca - Meet Judy Moody. She's a third grader. Most third graders are excited for a new school year to begin. But not Judy. Judy Moody is in a mood. Not a good mood. A bad mood.

The Plot

Judy Moody is a new book by Megan...

Wayside School: Silly Stories, No Plot

Wed, 13 Jun 2001 21:29:35 GMT
rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author jenninca - Every child loves a little weirdness. If a child reads Sideways Stories From Wayside School, weirdness is what they're going to get.

You see, Wayside School's builders had some trouble with following directions. The school was...