I gave this book to Mr. Kevin McCarthy, a most inspirational literature teacher who is teaching me the finer points of the English language and works of great writing. I believe he will find this book a great diversified source of literature for his current and future Language Arts classes. This book is Volume 1 of 2 and is a collection of poems and letters edited by Herbert R. Mayes. The collections in this book range from a sentence to whole essays, letters to song lyrics. My favorite passages include "Grammar in a Nutshell", Lincoln's letter to his brother in response to a plea for money and Benjamin Branklin's speech about why the turkey should be our national bird instead of the eagle. I hope Mr. Kevin loves this book as much as I do! My mom always says that if she were stuck on a desert island, she would ask for two books: The Bible....and this one. Merry Christmas, Mr. Kevin!