Annika At Wilderness Hotel: The Finnish Spies Review

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(More customer reviews)This story caught my interest because I was so fascinated with the charactors in the book. If I think about it, I am alot like Annika because we both like adventures, except of course I can't see peoples auras. I wish I could though.
All preteen girls should read this book because it caught my interest and will probably catch yours.

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This is the first in the series about a Swedish girl whoimmigrates to America in 1882. Annika lives at Wilderness Hotel by ahuge lake on the Minnesota/Canadian border, in a place namedSettlement. She is small and very dark, much unlike her tall blondparents. The people of Settlement stare at her sometimes, and thismakes her uneasy, but Annika isn't unduly concerned about this becauseshe is loved very much by her Swedish Pappa and Momma, and besides,she has many good friends. But Annika keeps her secrets. She hasspecial powers and tells no one about them. She experiencesforetelling . . . that is the knowing what is going to happen inadvance of it happening. And she sees what she calls the "colors" ofpeople . . . we know of this as auras. Annika enjoys her powers. Sheused them to her advantage when getting to know new people. Her powersbecome more potent as she pays closer attention to them, trusts them,and she often uses them to guide her. Annika's family has begun awonderful new life. But all is not well in America. The past knows noborders. It follows Annika's Pappa across the sea from Sweden toAmerica. Then it falls to the "Little Black Haired General" to saveher family and the people of Settlement from evil forces that woulddestroy them all.

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The Story of the Coco Palms Hotel: The Grace Buscher Guslander Years 1953-1985 Review

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(More customer reviews)Fabulous book - I was fortunate to stay there twice - once at the same time as John Wayne, Lee Marvin, and
Cesar Romero..

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Lyle and Grace Guslander built their hotel empire fromwhat started out as a 24-room hotel with five employees,that everyone on the island of Kauai had bet would gounder, especially when they heard that a pretty, blondehaole from Pennsylvania had arrived on the island tomanage it. Previously, all of the former operators of theCoco Palm Lodge had failed miserably.Within a year, Grace Buscher (as she was known in thefifties) had created one of the most famous destinationsin the world by incorporating the host culture she hadlearned from her Hawaiian friends and fusing it with herown unique creativity and vision. Grace had conjured upa magical tropical fantasy that people from all over theworld had dreamed they would find in Hawaii, and theCoco Palms became renowned as one of the first hotelsin Hawaii that actually celebrated Hawaiian culture.Within a decade, Grace Buscher was named the mostsuccessful hotel manager in the travel industry.Movies and television shows were filmed at the CocoPalms Hotel, most famously Blue Hawaii starring ElvisPresley. Paramount producer Hal Wallis was quoted assaying that the grounds of the Coco Palms was chosenfor filming because he couldn t find any hotel in theHawaiian Islands as authentically Hawaiian or asromantic as the Coco Palms! The hotel has also seen itsshare of dignitaries and celebrities; among them, theShah of Iran, Prince and Princess Hitachi of Japan, andBing Crosby.Even after Lyle and Grace had married and had soldtheir Island Holidays hotel chain for twenty milliondollars to American Factors in 1969, the Coco Palmsstory continued for another two decades. Lyle became amajor force in the hospitality industry, overseeing hotelsfor American Factors, and Grace continued to managethe Coco Palms Hotel until her retirement in 1985.Tragically, the devastating effects of Hurricane Iniki in1992 left the Coco Palms Hotel severely damaged. Asthe island of Kauai grappled with a recession and adownturn in tourism in the wake of the hurricane, theresort was eventually left to decay as repairs andinsurance issues proved too costly. However countlessthousands around the world can still recall a time whengentle tradewinds blew through hundreds of coconuttrees beside a silvery lagoon; where Hawaiian hospitalityand the true aloha spirit reigned supreme, all because ofGrace Guslander.

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