If Wishes Were Horses

Book Description

Young Tizra and her twin brother Tracell find their world abruptly changed when their father is unexpectedly called to fight in a war which promises to last much longer than the usual three-day skirmish. Their mother - the village healer - enlists her children to assist her in caring for the many refugees left wounded and homeless by the conflict. Inspired by her mother, Tizra learns never to surrender hope even in a time of fear and uncertainty.

Customer Reviews:

horses, magic and wishes.......2007-01-10

Another title which seems to have been written early in her career. It is aimed at horse mad younger readers who like a bit of magic and fantasy. I enjoyed it even though i am out of the target market

A great book.......2002-02-26

When war breaks out, and her father is mobilized, young Tirza Eircelly watches as her mother must prepare the demesne for the tribulations that war will surely bring to it. Her mother is a bastion of calm and wisdom in the dark days, keeping everyone moving forward while others lose their heads. Tirza learns to help her mother, and be the woman that her times require.

Although there are no wizards or exploding fireballs, this is a magical tale, a tale of a gentle magic, the sort that comes from within. This is a very touching story. Lady Talarrie is drawn as a formidable woman, a woman of courage and compassion, of action and wisdom. Though it might sound cliche, I don't believe that you can read this story without falling in love with it. This is a great book, one that I recommend to everyone!

Enchanting - A Great Read for All Ages!!!.......2000-07-08

I borrowed this book from the library and read it in a single day! It is well written and enchanting. The characters are charming and you will enjoy reading about their lives. It also gives a good picture of everyday life in the medieval time period. My daughter (11) is now reading it.

Great for a short story collection.......1999-06-05

So far, she has done three of these little books and I have loved all of them. I think that she should compile a book of all these stories when she's gotten a few more. I know that I'd definetely buy it.

CHARMING!!!!A WONDERFUL READ!.......1999-03-30

This book is worth it's weight in gold! It's a charming and whimsical tale of yesteryear that leaves the reader smiling and pleasantly happy.

Average customer rating:

Beautifully rendered, starkly real
If Wishes Were Horses
Whiteford's finest work yet!
Uncommon Love
A book that you wonýt soon forget

If Wishes Were Horses: A Novel
Merry Whiteford
Manufacturer: Thomas Dunne Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Literary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 031230188X

Book Description

If Wishes Were Horses is a moving, coming-of-age novel that explores the depth of friendship, the hope for redemp-tion, and the heartbreaking choices one must make in a diffi-cult, brutal world. In 1974, sixteen-year-old Star Hennessey lives with three other foster children in a broken-down central New York town. The daughter of an alcoholic prostitute, Star has relied on poetry to escape the gritty circumstances of her life. But her fantasyland is jolted when she be-comes preg-nant. Star's search for the right course of action brings her face to face with the cruel exploitation she fears is her legacy-but culminates in her personal triumph.

Customer Reviews:

Beautifully rendered, starkly real.......2003-08-17

Talented author Merry Whiteford explores the world of foster children in this tale of love, poverty and dreams, set in the mid-1960's and told by a young woman caught between the childhood she never really had and an adulthood she isn't at all prepared for.

Christened Veda by an alcoholic mother obsessed with the Joan Crawford movie MILDRED PIERCE, she renames herself "Star" when she, her brother and two other boys are placed in foster care together. Prior to that, she lived for a time in a Catholic-run orphanage, where she witnessed the suicide of another child who was punished for being pregnant. When Star discovers herself in the same predicament, she is determined to obtain an abortion, if only she can find the needed cash.

For Star has dreams. She is a poet, and her sights are set on something beyond the poverty and crime that surround her. After all, she notes, "Starting with almost nothing leaves almost everything open."

In this beautifully rendered coming-of-age novel, Ms. Whiteford vividly portrays the sense of isolation, the knowledge of separateness not only understood but, to a degree, cultivated by a child from whom relationships are controlled by fiat. In Star Hennessey, with her yearning for a life where the creativity and the life of the mind is respected, she has created a young woman of almost militant optimism who has managed not to lose faith, either in herself or in the power of love, despite obstacles life has placed in her path. Ms. Whiteford understands as well the mixture of childish innocence and precocious maturity young people caught in the wheel of poverty and foster care acquire.

IF WISHES WERE HORSES subtly studies the differences between cherishing dreams, as Star does, and nursing delusions as her mother, who insists her children call her "Mildred," clings to in the face of all common sense. Mildred has and does seek rescue, a helpless princess awaiting the arrival of her prince; while Star realizes the only one who can rescue her is herself.

What is particularly powerful about this book is its underlying theme that small applications of kindness and generosity-not necessarily of money but of time and experience and attention-can produce quality fruit even in soil that seems blasted and infertile. IF WISHES WERE HORSES is a superbly constructed window into a Dickensian world most people will hopefully never see, and yet one that everyone should have at least a taste of.

If Wishes Were Horses.......2003-07-02

I felt this book quite personally; I deeply indentified with Star and found her journey painful, moving and redemptive. I couldn't put this novel down and had to read it cover-to-cover straight through. I recommend this book to any serious reader.

Whiteford's finest work yet!.......2003-06-28

Merry Whiteford has eclipsed all her fine work with this magnificently told tale of Star - a young woman plagued by misfortune with an uncanny clarity and capacity to look and see beyond - with remarkable understanding, a lack of critical judgement and ability to move through the world with a sense of purpose that cannot be derailed, despite wrenching circumstances.

If you're tired of the *feel good* novel with trite, simplistic endings - this is the book for you and will undoubtedly leave the astute reader - like this one - hoping for more about Star. If Wishes Were Horses this writer would be rightfully acclaimed & celebrated for her exquisite talent and ability.

Thank you, Merry Whiteford, for a wonderful novel and reading experience. This hungry reader wants more ...

Uncommon Love.......2003-05-15

If Wishes Were Horses is about a teen-age girl, but it is a novel for everyone. The struggles are common human problems, but they are addressed with uncommon insight and care. The story is narrated by Star, a sixteen year girl living in a foster home with her brother and two other teenage boys. Star's mother is a prostitute, an alcoholic and an ex-con. She visits her children in foster care occasionally, and Star visits her mother in flashbacks. These visits reveal the embarrassment and abuse Star has suffered through her mother's neglect. They are more then sufficient to justify Star's total rejection of her mother, but this is not where the story goes. Star is resolute in her efforts to maintain her affection for her mother, and her efforts are rendered credible by Star's narrative. Star shows us how she sees her mother and other people in her life. We are spared pseudo-psychological analyses; instead we read of what Star sees in the people around her--their acts, their gestures, their comments. In these descriptions the affections of people who have been hit hard by life or lost their grip on life peek through. Such affection could be easily overlooked but is not. Star sees the love in her mother, and, through her poetic gifts she allows us to see it too. Star's ability to see those around her with generosity and honesty is at the heart of the story, and at the heart of the reader's admiration for her.
The reader, I think, will come to admire Star but will not see her as too good to be true. The plot is built around her slightly outlaw life with the other foster children and her unwanted pregnancy. Her efforts to solve the problems created by the pregnancy drive the plot and keep one wondering how she will resolve the situation. Her attempts at resolution lead to more problems that a less naive person might well have avoided. Star's gift is to see the capacity for love and affection in the midst of weakness and tragedy, and she applies that gift to herself as well.
Merry Whiteford has written an excellent novel. Star and her mother are characters who will linger with you. I find myself returning to the closing scenes of the novel with a fondness for mother and daughter and for what they can still mean to each other.

A book that you wonýt soon forget.......2003-04-09

It's 1974. In a used up town, near Nowhere, NY, sixteen-year-old Star Hennessey brings us along on a journey that isn't anywhere you want to go. She's living with yet another set of foster parents, with her brother and two other teenaged boys who are the end result of social services processes and society's failures. Star clings to what little childhood she had, while coming to understand that she is with child herself; a baby who is going to have a baby. Yet she is so grown up and mature when it comes to other things.

Her life has been one hell of a ride so far. Her mother, a prostitute, a drunk, wreaked havoc with the minds of her children, her occupational hazards. The "clients" she'd entertained didn't always ignore the fact that children were in the same apartment. Star found ways to deal with it. She entered a safe place in her mind. She wrote poems in her head, and hid within them.

Now, after living in the House of Providence, an orphanage really, she ekes out an existence with foster parents. People who have nothing to offer; people who show no interest or love. It is better than Providence though, where the nuns slap your knuckles with rulers and punish you for thoughts you might someday chance to have. Providence: where another young girl's belly grew large with child and she was sent away to give birth, only to return and hang herself in the dormitory. And Star understands why.

This isn't just a coming of age story. It is a slap across the face, grow up quick or be left behind story. It is a work of fiction but the people are so real that you might very well know some of them. Here is an example of such depth of knowledge of humanity; it is like looking in the mirror at a bruised and battered 16-year-old face. Look in the mirror. See the truth that is all around us. A young girl struggles to understand her own existence, she desperately tries to know who she is and why she is. She takes comfort in words and poetry and finds hope and purpose there.

Merry Whiteford has opened doors we usually keep closed. She offers a look at what makes people tick, and a look at the deepest darkest secrets that are often shut tight in little glass jars and held tightly to our chests. She offers a reminder to hold on to our memories, even if they have become memories of what we wish had happened and not what really did.

If Wishes Were Horses is a book that you won't soon forget, nor should you.

Average customer rating:
Tom Holt Omnibus 2: My Hero and Who's Afraid of Beowulf? (The Second Tom Holt, Omnibus)
Tom Holt
Manufacturer: ATOM
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Holt, Tom | ( H ) | Authors, A-Z | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
General | Fantasy | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Saints and Sinners (Omnibus)

Tom Holt Omnibus I: Flying Dutch and Faust among Equals (Tom Holt Omnibus)

Tall Stories: Omnibus 5 (Omnibus)

Fishy Wishes: Omnibus 7: Wish You Were Here and Djinn Rummy

For Two Nights Only

ASIN: 1841491330

Average customer rating:
A Woman of the Horseclans (Horseclans 12)
(Franklin) Robert Adams
Manufacturer: Roc
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
General | Science Fiction | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Horses of the North (Horseclans 13)

A Man Called Milo Morai (Horseclans 14)

Horseclans Odyssey (Horseclans)

The Witch Goddess (Horseclans #9)

Trumpets of War (Horseclans 16)

ASIN: 0451125754

Average customer rating:
HorseclansNo. 12 A Woman of the Horseclans
Robert Adams
Manufacturer: Science Fiction 1983 PB-3 signet
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000IO3X70

Average customer rating:
Horseclans Series 9-16: 9-The Witch Goddess; 10-Bili the Axe; 11-Champion of the Last Battle; 12-A Woman of the Horseclans; 13-Horses of the North; 14-A Man Called Milo Morai; 15-The Memories of Milo Morai; 16-Trumpets of War
Robert Adams
Manufacturer: Signet
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000TZC1PS

Book Description

Why is one cookie never enough? Why does a bad day at the office seem to scream for a quart of rocky road? If you think the answer is a lack of self-control, you might be misunderstanding the reasons behind overeating.

Trust Weight Watchers, the leading name in safe and sensible weight control, to address food issues that go beyond what to eat. If cutting calories or regular exercise hasn't been enough, the next step is understanding why you overeat. Stop Stuffing Yourself contains the latest information on the hottest topic in weight control, emotional overeating. Full of hands-on advice and reassuring coping techniques for winning the battle with food, Stop Stuffing Yourself covers issues ranging from stress and anger to boredom and loneliness, explaining how anyone can identify the causes of overeating and succeed at losing weight.

Real-life stories of trial and triumph color each chapter, providing motivation, support and encouragement to anyone who ever thought she was alone in her struggle with food. Stop Stuffing Yourself is the must-have book for chronic dieters, the food-obsessed, and anybody who's ready to gain control over food and lose weight.

Customer Reviews:

A great and helpful read!.......2007-08-24

I thought this was a great book! It really helped me to recognize my food triggers and examine the reasons behind why I overeat. I have defintley used this book to eat less, because I have been able to keep myself from eating out of boredom or other emotions from the tips and tools in this book. I would highly recommend it!

Light on technique and obnoxiously worded ..........2007-06-14

This book does have value, but it has extremely serious flaws.

As others have pointed out, the book is heavy on explanatory material and inspirational biographies and light on technique. Additionally, its spacious graphic design and large font seem to have been chosen to make fewer words fill more pages.

Significantly, this book was OBNOXIOUSLY gynocentric in its word choices. Not only was there not one single male pronoun in the book, there were very few entirely gender-neutral sentences (even references to "someone" were quickly followed up with "she", etc.). It was, "a woman feels", "she may", etc. As a man reading the text, this had the effect of constantly distancing me from the advice being given. Yet I think female readers might equally find insult in the book's similar assumption that its female readers are exclusively straight and exclusively married -- with no references to boyfriends or partners, only to husbands and children. If the concept of emotional eating were not so (relatively) new, I would have suspected the text to have been imported whole from the 1950s.

I also cannot help but laugh at the irony of what a poor choice of titles this is. For people who are dealing with loneliness, self-blame, and anger, asking them to carry around a book whose cover features, in extremely large letters, the words "STOP STUFFING YOURSELF!" can only be an exercise in cruelty, if unintentional cruelty.

I will not say this book was useless (which is why I won't give it a single star) — it did contain some phrases, concepts, and techniques I found useful, but nowhere near enough in number to justify anything more than a handout. I imagine emotional eating must be covered much more adroitly in other texts, and I urge you to investigate them and not this.

Very insightful especially if you are doing Weight Watchers........2007-05-07

If you are on the WeightWatchers diet get this book. it is insightful and it gives you alternate alternatives.

Eye Opener.......2006-02-23

This book was a real eye opener for me. I had no idea about some of the topics discussed in most of these chapters. No diet or lifestyle change works over night, and I think that this book helps explain that in the simplest way.

OK, for what it is........2005-10-02

This is the same stuff one finds in the women's magazines at the checkouts or maybe this is where they may have got some of their articles. The "why do you eat" quiz was my favourite part of the book & helpful. I have lent this to other friends & they liked it as well. Evidentlty they don't buy women's magazine . All in all a so-so addition to my library.

Stop Stuffing Yourself - 7 Steps To Conquering Overeating

Average customer rating:

Stop Stuffing Yourself - 7 Steps To Conquering Overeating
Weight Watchers
Manufacturer: Macmillan Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Average customer rating:

Good, authentic & easy Thai, Lao, Vietnamese, Burmese...

Simply Wonderful

Vatch's rules

Vatch's Southeast Asian Cookbook
Vatcharin Bhumichitr
Manufacturer: St. Martin's Griffin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
General | Asian | Regional & International | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Hot Sour Salty Sweet: A Culinary Journey Through Southeast Asia

Vatch's Thai Street Food

Green Mangoes and Lemon Grass: Southeast Asia's Best Recipes from Bangkok to Bali

Cradle of Flavor: Home Cooking from the Spice Islands of Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia

Quick & Easy Thai: 70 Everyday Recipes

ASIN: 0312254318

Amazon.com

Chef Vatcharin "Vatch" Bhumichitr has been on the road. His book, Vatch's Southeast Asian Cookbook, is a tour through not only his native Thailand, but also Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Burma, Cambodia, and Laos. The result is a solid introduction to the culinary traditions of Southeast Asia. He set out in 1994 to travel through the region on a cook's tour of food and discovery. Much of his travels are related in the accompanying essays in each chapter, and provide unique insight to the cultural and social and geographic forces that shape the region's different cuisines. For Vatch, food is the soul of the country and a way of understanding one of the most diverse areas in the world. While you may be able to get beef noodle soup in Malaysia and Laos, they only share a few common ingredients. The differences in the recipes, like those between the countries, are striking.

Realizing that western chefs are often intimidated by Asian ingredients and processes, Vatch gently guides the reader through his own journey, and in the process, demystifies much about Southeast Asia culture. He begins simply, with the practical aspects of cooking. The opening chapter is divided into sections on equipment, techniques, and ingredients, and is an essential primer for anyone who has experienced the terror of unfamiliarity while shopping in an Asian food market. The rest of the essays and accompanying recipes are divided by country, and include spectacular photography. The final section of the book outlines all the dishes, and lists the do's and don'ts of composing meals. There is also a complete list of vegetarian dishes and ones that can easily be altered. Vatch's acute eye for detail and his cook's sensibility will appeal to the armchair traveler or budding Asian chef alike. --Mark O. Howerton

Book Description

The countries of Southeast Asia boast some of the most vibrant, flavorful cooking in the world. Renowned Thai-born chef Vatcharin Bhumichitr (known as "Vatch") takes us on an insider's culinary tour of Thailand and its neighbors in this irresistible collection.
With more than one hundred recipes that range from pungent crab to heavenly pumpkin and coconut soup, Vatch's book overflows with fresh ingredients, exuberant flavors, and irresistible specialties of the countries covered--Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Burma, Malaysia, and Singapore. Get ready for a spicy, spectacular journey!

Customer Reviews:

Good, authentic & easy Thai, Lao, Vietnamese, Burmese..........2006-08-22

What a terrific cookbook! Vatch provides fantastic recipes, great information about equipment and techniques, and menu ideas. He includes key recipes from Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Burma, Malaysia and Singapore. He includes pictures from each country, insight into the way of life, and outlines how the food differs from one country to another.

There are also terrific pictures of many of the dishes. I especially like his "Making a Meal" section, which helps a chef plan a pan-Asian feast or a one-dish dinner.

I really recommend this cookbook to anyone who is interested in cooking authentic meals from several countries of southeast Asia.

Simply Wonderful.......2003-03-25

I just love this book. I stumbled on to it while browsing the library shelf and knew I had to own it. The recipes are great, the pictures are beautiful, and the book is well laid out by country. I've been to SE Asia, and now every time I prepare a meal from this book, I look at the pictures while cooking, and enjoy the wonderful memories of Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand, where I first sampled many of the dishes. This book would make a perfect gift for someone who has traveled SE Asia and loves the food. It was my gift to me.

Vatch's rules.......1999-12-08

I lived in Bangkok for 3 years and have tried every Thai cookbook in print--this is the BEST. Easy easy easy and authentic, with beautiful illustrations and descriptions of food from Thailand, Burma, Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia, this makes a great gift. You will use this cookbook all the time.

Book Description

"The longcase clock has been a part of the Englishman's home for some 300 years and has gained a place in his heart seldom if every achieved by any other domestic item. An example of its importance in family life is that it, with the bed and the house, was nearly always mentioned specifically in the will." In Derek Roberts's important new book, readers find a wealth of valuable information detailing the British origins, evolution, and wide range of longcase clocks that have been produced since the sixteenth century. In twenty chapters Mr. Roberts provides a detailed overview of many facets of these beautiful and useful art works, including early square dial, rare, astronomical and equation clocks, walnut breakarch longcase clocks (and those in other woods), and thirty-hour clocks. Other chapters detail various dial and decoration forms, precision timekeeping, important makers, and clocks of the Victorian and Edwardian eras right up to modern times. A glossary of terms and lengthy index of makers are included. In British Longcase Clocks, Mr. Roberts share his wealth of knowledge enthusiastically and presents over 300 black and white and full-color photographs of details and whole clocks. His book will interest clock owners and all who love fine furniture.

Designing and Building a Grandfather Clock

Average customer rating:

Designing and Building a Grandfather Clock
Gary Williams
Manufacturer: A S Barnes & Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Engineering | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books

Average customer rating:

Build Own Grandfather Clock & Save. H/C
Nelson
Manufacturer: TAB Books Inc
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Engineering | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books

General | Reference | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0830690530

Clocks, Watches & Wristwatches [Phillips, London (28069) / 20 Feb 1990]

Average customer rating:

Clocks, Watches & Wristwatches [Phillips, London (28069) / 20 Feb 1990]

Manufacturer: Phillips
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000CJTFKA

Product Description

Phillips auction house, London (20 February 1990). Sale Code: 28069. 198 lot(s). Catalog is in English. Items presented in this catalog include: Wristwatches, watches, marine chronometers, longcase clocks, bracket and mantel clocks, tools, skeleton clocks, wall clocks, barometers, travelling and carriage clocks. Auction catalogs are valuable reference tool for pricing and identifying works of art and collectibles.

Clocks, Watches & Wristwatches [Phillips, London (28158) / 24 Apr 1990]

Average customer rating:

Clocks, Watches & Wristwatches [Phillips, London (28158) / 24 Apr 1990]

Manufacturer: Phillips
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000CJTJZG

Product Description

Phillips auction house, London (24 April 1990). Sale Code: 28158. 211 lot(s). Catalog is in English. Items presented in this catalog include: Wristwatches, watches, watch movements, longcase clocks, bracket and mantel clocks, wall clocks, tools, lantern clocks, skeleon clocks, strut and carriage clocks, barometers and medical instruments. Auction catalogs are valuable reference tool for pricing and identifying works of art and collectibles.

The grandfather clock maintenance manual

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The grandfather clock maintenance manual
John Vernon
Manufacturer: Van Nostrand Reinhold
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

General | Engineering | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books

The grandfather clock: An historical and descriptive treatise on the English long case clock with notes on some Scottish, Welsh and Irish examples

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The grandfather clock: An historical and descriptive treatise on the English long case clock with notes on some Scottish, Welsh and Irish examples
Ernest L Edwardes
Manufacturer: Sherrat
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

General | Engineering | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books

General | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 085427054X

Book Description

The first unequivocal success for Gene Therapy was reported in April 2000 for X-SCID patients. Pioneering stem cell/gene therapy clinical trials are the focus of this book. Therapy successes such as the X-SCID trial and improved ADA-SCID ones are presented together with pioneering angio/vasculogenic clinical trials mediated either by transient gene therapy or emerging autologous stem cell transplantation. Highlights also include 1) promises of the breakthrough combination of stem cell- and transient gene-therapy, 2) gene therapy trials for neurodegenerative disease on non-human primates where long-term gene therapy might involve brain stem cells, and 3) the first clinical trial with non-invasive monitoring of therapeutic gene expression as a prospective conclusion.

This volume will be of value and interest to researchers in this exciting field.

Book Description

A Biography of Micheal MacLiammoir and Hilton Edwards.

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