Product Description
Purchase includes free access to book updates online and a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Chapters: Helen Brach, Patrick Stump, Henryk Magnuski, Al Montoya, Brian Fahey, Samuel Witwer, Emily Bergl, Tom Ethington, Kelley Menighan Hensley, Betsy Randle, Andy Masur. Excerpt:Born : February 13, 1985 (1985-02-13) , Glenview , IL Álvaro "Al" Montoya (born February 13, 1985 in Glenview , Illinois ) is a professional ice hockey goaltender currently playing for the Phoenix Coyotes 's American Hockey League affiliate, the San Antonio Rampage . Montoya is the first Cuban American to play in the NHL. Playing career Montoya played youth hockey for the Chicago Young Americans and Loyola Academy Gold and amateur hockey for the Texas Tornado of the North American Hockey League and the U.S. National Team Development Program prior to attending the University of Michigan for three years, beginning in the 2002 03 season. He enjoyed success at Michigan, especially during his final season in 2004 05, where he posted a record of 30 wins, 7 losses and 3 ties. Team USA won gold at the 2004 World Junior Championship with Al Montoya backstopping them and was named to the all-tournament team. Montoya was drafted by the Rangers in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft with the sixth overall pick. He made his professional debut with the Hartford Wolf Pack of the American Hockey League in the 2005 06 season. On February 26, 2008, Montoya was traded from the New York Rangers, along with Marcel Hossa , to the Phoenix Coyotes in exchange for Fredrik Sjöström , David LeNeveu , and Josh Gratton . Montoya had become expendable due to the emergence of Miika Wiikman . After re-signing with the Coyotes on July 2, 2008, Montoya started the 2008 09 season with the San Antonio Rampage , an AHL affiliate of the Coyotes, backing up Josh Tordjman . Late in the season Montoya made his NHL debut with the Coyotes on April 1, 2009, pick... ... Read more

Product Description
A dead newborn is found in a wastebasket at a convent. The mother, a devout young nun, lies unconscious nearby. A psychiatrist must evaluate her. The truth goes beyond what happened on the fateful night of conception. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

A murder mystery - but is it Godless?
Nothing in this world can prepare us for the spiritual aspect of this haunting murder mystery as described on this audio cassette version.As much as science and reason can explain things seemingly unscientific, does there ever come a time when science alone cannot?In this tender drama of a twenty-one year old nun, one cannot help but question the mysteries of faith - in all its forms.Agnes, the twenty-one year old nun, has never known life as we have. Sheltered and secluded in her upbringing, abused and tragically disturbed, Agnes turns to the Catholic Convent when her mother dies.Surely there, Mother Miriam can produce or at least invoke a kin to humanity in this child, and perhaps even be somewhat of a mother to her in many ways. Perhaps Mother Miriam can bring her a sense of a real world, a sense of mankind with all of its beauties and all of its flaws. Truth is not told lightly here, and when Agnes delivers a child, beliefs must be questioned, questions must be answered, faiths must be acknowledged - or abandoned. Beautifully portrayed on one audio cassette, you will hear Agnes' song long after the cassette is over.

Absolutely riveting audio version
John Pielmeier's play "Agnes of God" opened on Broadway in 1982 with a cast that included Elizabeth Ashley, Geraldine Page, and Amanda Plummer.It tells the tale of a young novice who has been sheltered from the world all her life.One night, she is found unconscious in her convent room after having given birth to a baby, which is found dead in a wastebasket.This shocking incident gives rise to a whole set of questions: Who was the father?Why did no one know about Agnes' pregnancy?Is she really as simple and naive as she seems?And, most importantly, who killed the baby?

The play features three terrific roles for actresses: Agnes, the Mother Superior, and the court-appointed psychiatrist, Dr. Livingstone.The script is not without its flaws: the science vs. faith conceit is played out a little too simply, and some of the symbolism is heavy-handed to say the least (the doctor trades her obsessive chain-smoking for an obsessive fixation on Agnes).The play was also made into a rather tepid movie which unwisely opened up the claustrophobic office/convent interview scenario and added superfluous characters and subplots.Meg Tilly and Anne Bancroft both earned much-deserved Oscar nominations for their excellent performances, but Jane Fonda is miscast and less than obsessive in the role of Dr. Livingstone.

This audio recording, however, makes one forget any flaws in the script and completely erases any sour memory of the misjudged film version.It is gripping in every way.Harriet Harris carries the show in a bravura performance as Dr. Livingstone ("X-files" fans will remember her from the terrific "Eve" episode).She is not afraid to be curt and unlikable, and she carries a chip on her shoulder the size of a Buick.Every shifting emotion is immediately audible in her highly expressive voice: wry condescenion, bitter regret, volcanic rage, and aching sorrow all come into play.Her final, gut-wrenching monologue is absolutely harrowing.With a performance like Harris', visuals become unnecessary.

Harris' force-of-nature portrayal could easily overwhelm less accomplished co-stars, but Barbara Bain and Emily Bergl more than hold their own.Bain is sympathetic and likable as the Mother Superior, a welcome contrast to Harris' caustic doctor.She matches Harris step for step in their emotional confrontations and gives equal weight to the Mother's deep sense of spirituality and the earthier, more secular side of the character.This is no caricature, but a flesh-and-blood human being.

Emily Bergl (who was the one bright spot in the otherwise limp "The Rage: Carrie 2") makes a perfect Agnes: childlike, eager to please, and slightly otherworldly.She gives her ludicrous answers to the doctor's questions in such a matter-of-fact manner that one simply can't write her off as insane.Because of her utter conviction in everything she says, we as listeners must at least consider the fact that the visions and voices she sees and hears might be real.Bergl also fully commits to her emotional moments with the doctor.Harris is often so brutal with the psychologically fragile Bergl that one almost wishes Child Protective Services would come in and whisk Agnes away.Bergl's singing voice -- an important aspect of Agnes' character -- is childlike and unspoilt, adding to the sense of Agnes' purity.

Sound effects are used sparingly but judiciously, such as the flick of a lighter letting the audience know that the doctor has lighted a cigarette.Credit must be given to director Nancy Malone, who has shaped the rhythm and pace of the piece with the expert skill of an orchestral conductor.Under her guidance, the three actresses sound like a finely-tuned ensemble, with Bain's earthy alto, Harris' reedy mezzo, and Bergl's soft-grained soprano playing together as exquisitely as virtuoso instruments.Audio theatre doesn't come any better than this.

Journey through a triangle
Those who have seen the movie Agnes of God be warned - it can not compare to the actual play.Reading the play is just as fulfilling as seeing it performed.Three characters - a shrink, a mother superior, and an innocent nun.Throughout the play, roles are examined, discarded, built upon and interchanged between the three characters.The author gives the characters real depth.Readers can see themselves in any of the three roles without any trouble.

A memorable, commanding, "theatre of the mind" experience.
John Pielmeier's Agnes Of God is a contemporary murder mystery set within the confines of a modern Catholic convent. Agnes is a devout, innocent young nun accused of infanticide. As a psychiatrist (herself a lapsedCatholic) and the Mother Superior struggle over Agnes' fate, the playplunges deeply into the mystery of faith and the consequence of truth. Thissuperb audio play production features Barbara Bain as the Mother Superior,Emily Bergl as Agnes, and Harriet Harris as Dr. Martha Livingstone. Underthe accomplished direction of Nancy Malone, Pielmeier's compelling tale iswonderfully underscored with the choral music of Kathryn Skatula, Ali Olmoand Teri Bibb. The recording techniques are flawless and present a true"theatre of the mind" experience that is both memorable andcommanding. ... Read more

Product Description
Two classic Moliere farces of marriage and misunderstanding, one set in Paris and the other in the provinces. In The School for Husbands, a tyrannical husband-to-be seeks to isolate his ward, while unwittingly carrying her messages of devotion to her lover. In The Imaginary Cuckold an enraged husband imagines his wife is unfaithful, but is reluctant to defend his honor. ... Read more

Product Description
approx. 4 hours, 3 cassettes

It's late summer 1793, and the streets of Philadelphia are abuzz with mosquitoes and rumors of fever.Down near the docks, many have taken ill, and the fatalities are mounting.Now they include Polly, the serving girl at the Cook Coffeehouse.But fourteen-year-old Mattie Cook doesn't get a moment to mourn the passing of her childhood playmate.New customers have overrun her family's coffee shop, located far from the mosquito-infested river, and Mattie's concerns of fever are all but overshadowed by dreams of growing her family's small business into a thriving enterprise.But when the fever begins to strike closer to home, Mattie's struggle to build a new life must give way to a new fight-the fight to stay alive.

Amazon.com Review
On the heels of her acclaimed contemporary teen novel Speak, Laurie Halse Anderson surprises her fans with a riveting and well-researched historical fiction. Fever 1793 is based on an actual epidemic of yellow fever in Philadelphia that wiped out 5,000 people--or 10 percent of the city's population--in three months. At the close of the 18th century, Philadelphia was the bustling capital of the United States, with Washington and Jefferson in residence. During the hot mosquito-infested summer of 1793, the dreaded yellow fever spread like wildfire, killing people overnight. Like specters from the Middle Ages, gravediggers drew carts through the streets crying "Bring out your dead!" The rich fled to the country, abandoning the city to looters, forsaken corpses, and frightened survivors.

In the foreground of this story is 16-year-old Mattie Cook, whose mother and grandfather own a popular coffee house on High Street. Mattie's comfortable and interesting life is shattered by the epidemic, as her mother is felled and the girl and her grandfather must flee for their lives. Later, after much hardship and terror, they return to the deserted town to find their former cook, a freed slave, working with the African Free Society, an actual group who undertook to visit and assist the sick and saved many lives. As first frost arrives and the epidemic ends, Mattie's sufferings have changed her from a willful child to a strong, capable young woman able to manage her family's business on her own. (Ages 12 and older) --Patty Campbell ... Read more

Customer Reviews (321)

Fever to my soul
Although Laurie Halse Anderson is a novelist who writes profound and poetic works, here she takes a decline in her very value as an author as she makes her novel barely readable throughout the course of the novel. To spare you the time, please read the summarys of fever to understand the plot. Ok first thing wrong with the book, Anderson spends too much time from getting one place to another. Serious pacing issues occur throughout. Second, although we know that the yellow fever was a terrible epidemic at the time, I barely got to know what it was like because she basically just describes people being dead or having a high fever and looking almost like zombies. What are the side effects of Fever, I dont really know. This leads me to my third issue that contains spoilers. When Mattie arises from the fever I feel like it was totally an unnecassary waste of the novels time. She recovers for maybe ten pages of the book and then all is well. PACING. It also seems more or less like a bad writing skill from transitioning facts from that period of time into the novel, for Matttie falls ill from the fever and then she arises still plagued in a Bush Hill, a place restored from its original state of horror into a safehaven for fever vistims. Even I can find a way to transition the facts from that time and place better. Although Fever has many more issues, I spare you another terrible word of the novel, the bottomline is to forget about this book and continue on with your life.

Fever 1793
Have you ever wondered what an epidemic is like? Do you know what it's like to have people in your own family have a deadly virus? This book has it all. This historical fiction book is about an epidemic in 1793. This is based on a real fever that many people had to face.This book is filled with excitement and suspense. I think if you read this you'd love it. This is one of the best books I have ever read.

In this book a deadly sickness called yellow fever hits in 1793.It's called yellow fever because right before you die your eyes get yellowish. A number of other things happen like nose bleeds, coughing and throwing up.All this happens to the thousands of people who get yellow fever.A girl named Mattie and her family hast do face this deadly fever.A girl named Mattie and her family hast do face this deadly fever.

Mattie and her family own a coffee shop and they want to make it popular. But one day the mother of the family gets yellow fever and the family is forced to move away at a farm. Mattie's grandfather is told he has yellow fever but the doctor who told them made a mistake. It turned out the grandfather didn't have yellow fever at all. The family is forced back and Mattie gets yellow fever and almost dies but is nursed back to health. The fever multiplies and soon almost everyone has it. Yellow fever kills thousands of people.

Fever 1793 is a great book. It's filled with suspense and it's sad but exiting. You will be shocked if you read t that it's based on a real fever. It's one of my favorite books. I know it sounds sad but it is really good. It's a gripping book. I know you will like it. I strongly suggest you read this book.
By Jamal Jackson Jr.

I don't know why my kids didn't like this book!
I don't know why many young readers don't like this book (a required 6th grade read here) because I have read it twice and think it is excellent.This is the story of Mattie Cook, a fourteen-year-old girl living in Philadelphia during the Yellow Fever plague of 1793.Mattie must grow up quickly during that summer, as the fever strikes her family and friends.She makes difficult decisions and learns hard lessons about survival, life and love.

Anderson weaves history into her story and the reader learns about these difficult times in early America, as well as about how people lived and how the black population built a powerful network to help their people through sickness and hunger.She also includes a great deal about doctors' different approaches to healing the sick and the debate over these methods.

Although the story includes sadness and loss, Fever is more a story of hope and survival with a definite feel-good ending.

Exactly How Historical Fiction Should Be Handled!
As a mother who screens everything her 11-year old daughter reads, I've enjoyed Laurie Halse Anderson's offering before. As animal lovers, we've loved her "Vet Volunteers" series, but what I really appreciated was the dedicated research that when into "Chains" from the "Seeds of America" series - waiting impatiently now for "Forge." Halse's gift for digging deep into history and presenting what could be very unsavoury truths in a manner that is entertaining, touching, and totally unforgettable - is very much in evidence in "Fever 1793." Said daughter read this book as part of her Constitution Day reading this year, and it helped put in perspective for her that vague period between Esther Forbes' "Johnny Tremain" and the War of 1812 (one good starter historical kid fiction there is "Flames in the City" from the "Time Spies" series by Candance Ransom.) Significantly for us, where I wasn't exactly drawn towards the cover, said daughter thought it was wonderful! In her words,

"The book, 'Fever 1793' by Laurie Halse Anderson was a good book about the newly independent colonies of America.

"It is August and fourteen-year-old Mattie Cook is ambitious, adventurous and fighting to stay alive. Which is pretty hard considering the fact that she is trapped in Philadelphia, the capital of the new United States and home of yellow fever. However, as some of her friends and family start to become fever victims, and Mattie herself gets the fever, everyone wonders ... Is America going to survive?

"My favorite part was when Mattie found out that she could 'adopt' Nell, a little girl she found on the streets clutching the broken doll next to her dead mother because throughout the rest of the book, she grows up in amazing ways and it was just so...wonderful.

"My favorite character has to be Eliza. I love how even if she was black, she still helped white people when they had yellow fever. Even after she discovered that black people actually could get yellow fever, she still helped at the risk of her life. I think she and the rest of the Free African Society were truly brave.

"I thought the book was a fantastic read so I give it five huge gold stars for everything from the cover to the characters."

Well written, engaging story
My pre-teen son asked me to read this book after he read it and found it very interesting. It is a great story for both adult and teen readers.The characters and storytelling are engaging and keep the reader interested.The added benefit is that it makes for a great conversation either in class, a book club, or family discussion.It's a fairly quick read but very deep in it's impact.Well done. ... Read more