Rating: 
Summary: Simple Gifts
Review: I'm taking one star off only because this novel wasn't really a page turner. It wasn't the kind of book you just have to finish in one sitting, the way I'd expect to with one of the shorter Danielle Steel novels such as this one. It was very easy to put down, and took me quite a bit of time to finish because the story was so predictable that you already knew what was going to happen and were not necessarily compelled to turn pages.Nevertheless, what I did read, when I decided to pick it up, was somewhat poignant and tender in a very simple and childish way. This novel would be good for teens as it deals with high schoolers who are in love and one teenager in particular, who gets herself into unfortunate circumstances, and then meets up with a sympathetic family that is going through it's own trauma. I can't really go further in describing the plot without giving away the whole story. I think four stars is actually a bit generous. Still, the heartbreaking nature of the emotions the characters experience, even though Steel has a simplistic way of writing about them, provide enough warm and fuzzies which allow the reader to experience heartfelt emotion right along with the characters. Think Nicholas Sparks "A Walk To Remember", even though in that novel, the teens experienced totally different issues. Steel's writing doesn't come close to the thought provoking and efficient nature of Sparks. But, the emotions and the fact that both novels deal with teens make both "A Walk..." and "The Gift" slightly similar.
Rating:
Summary: The Gift
Review: The Gift By: Danielle Steel The Gift by Danielle Steel is a marvelous novel, which takes place in the 50's. The reason why I feel that this book is so wonderful is because it reflects to our young teens today. I feel that once you get this book in your hands you really can't let go. It's true when people say don't judge a book by its cover, even though it might not look interesting at all. Danielle Steel is one of the best selling authors, and this novel can just prove how creative her work is. It takes place at a happy home, when everything shatters by a child's senseless death. The Whittaker ends up losing her beautiful young child Annie of the sickness meningitis. The family, which includes Tommy Whittaker, Annie Whittaker, Elizabeth Whittaker, and John Whittaker, then is so affected by the startling tragedy that they stop communicating together and the loving marriage of Elizabeth Whittaker and John Whittaker starts to unravel. The story is then switched, introduced is, the gifted 15-year-old- Maribeth. A narrow-minded father who forces her into going to her prom with a repulsive navy blue dress demoralizes her. After one wrong incident that night, Maribeth's life turns upside down. She becomes pregnant and is sent to a convent by her severe father, where she is to lose her baby, if she wished to return home. She escapes the brutal convent and ends up in the little town of Omaha where she starts working as a waitress in a diner. Young unwed Maribeth, and young hopeless Tommy meet one day at the diner and end up falling in love. Their love, so innocent and full of hope, helps to restore a family's dreams. And all of their lives changed forever by the precious gift she lives behind, her beautiful baby girl Kate. I would definitely recommend this book to young teens around the world, who strongly believe in true love. This book teaches the readers that if two people are truly in love, they will pull through the toughest times together but at the end it would all be worth it. Even though it is a story that leaves you hanging at the end, some use their imagination to end it and some readers wait until the continuation of the story comes out. I would also recommend this book, because it reflects on our young teens today. All around the world young girls are having unprotected sex or are fooled by the guy and they all end up getting pregnant. They end up having adoration or a hard time taking care of the child. By reading this book, it takes you through a life of a typical teenager who happens to make a mistake that ruins her life forever. It shows how the life of a young girl distorted because of an unwanted pregnancy. It also shows the readers that things happen for a reason and just when you think your life is ruined, something special comes along. For Maribeth, she met the love of her life, the person that understood her problem and respected her. This fabulous book will keep you on the edge of your sit, just waiting to see what is going to happen next. It is such an emotion book it leaves its readers in tears. The story also gives the reader the idea that miracles do happen. The Gift is one of the best-written books by Danielle Steel because it is a book a lot of people can relate to. A book that is filled with sadness, and hopelessness and then changed into love and happiness. I defiantly recommend it to all the young adults. Critical Review By: Elizabeth Adzhemyan
Rating:
Summary: A good read....... yet a tad bit predictable
Review: I really liked this book. I found it quite enjoyable, except I already knew what was going to happen a little while after starting it. Also, it left me wondering what happened to Tommy and Maribeth at the end. Did she come back to visit? Did they get married? I would reccomend it though, because it was a great story.
Rating: 
Summary: Have Hope... Keep Faith
Review: This is the first Danielle Steel book I've read, but I simply loved it!! It's a great heart warming story. Although it leaves you wondering about the two main character's future, the book gives me hope... hope that there is a love two people can share, a true love that sees no judgment, just feeling... it gives me hope for the main characters... and it gives me hope that one day I'll just walk into some new place and who knows... lightning could strike... and my life will change for the better. Somewhat perdicable, although I would have preferred a different ending... some stories are wonderful to read even if you know how it unfolds. I hope there will be a sequel about Maribeth and Tommy... a made-for-tv-movie about this would be nice too.
Rating:
Summary: The best gift of love
Review: The Gift by Danielle Steel is one of the best books that I have read so far. I am not an avid novel reader and I have to say that I am hard to impress. This book is about a happy couple with two lovable chidren, Tommy and their little precious daughter Annie. There is nothing else they could ask for in this world. On a Christmas Eve, a terrible thing happened, their youngest daughter Annie died of acute mengingitis. The whole family was devastated and the happy family was shattered into pieces. After months of sorrow, a girl named Maribeth came to their life. She had managed to bring back the happy smiles into their faces. It was her who gave them the most precious gift of all, a baby just like Annie that could bring back the joy and love they once had. The Gift will make you want to read until the end, non-stop. It is a love story, not just about teenagers falling in love, but also a story about a family bringing back love into their life. Danielle Steel makes me want to read some of her other novels hoping to get the same interest that I had with this novel. So if you are like me who hardly reads and wants to read something that will interest them and something they could relate to, this is the perfect book for you. I am absolutely giving this book a rate of perfect 10!!!!!
Rating:
Summary: A Poignantly Romantic Tearjerker
Review: I don't remember the last time a book made me cry so, much. 'The Gift' is a wonderful book to read. You fall in love with Maribeth & Tommy, as they're falling in love with each other.
Rating:
Summary: Extremely Touching
Review: I decided to explore the literary work of Danielle Steele by choosing this short novel from my local library. Some may find it a bit mushy but I definitely was hooked all the way through. It was almost magical how the pain the Whittaker's loss of their daughter was mended by Maribeth's arrival in their world. It shows you that children no matter what they get themselves into can somehow still display innocent and trusting for one another. Love truly can conquer all as Tommy certainly looks past the problems of Maribeth and sees her emergence as a calming presence to the loss of his sister and the near destruction of his family. Slowly but surely and certainly happilly, Tommy, Liz and John manage to come together again. I guess one never knows where the missing puzzle to someone's happiness lies. Sometimes I guess one has to believe in magic and Danielle Steele certainly affirms this.
Rating: 
Summary: Tripe
Review: Ugh. My mother pressured me into reading any book by Danielle Steel, and I chose this one because it was blessedly short. This story was as contrived, predictable and melodramatic as any soap opera out there. I saw the ending coming a mile away. I would have been willing, even happy to admit there was a shred or originality in this story, had there been any.
Rating:
Summary: A Good Example
Review: I read this book in one afternoon - I just could not stop reading. This book is about a teenage sweet girl that faces an unplanned pregnancy, and her plan to make the best of it.
It is a very touching book that I strongly recommend to teenager girls, or any other woman who ever thought of abortion as an option.
Rating:
Summary: short and sweet
Review: Set in the 1950s, The Gift by Danielle Steel is a touching novel about two separate families who meet and are changed by a special gift. It begins with the story of Tommy Whittaker and his family. They have a beautiful daughter named Annie, whose love changed the family into happiness and cheer. When her senseless death arises, the family is crushed; the loving marriage starts to unravel and Tommy begins to fend for himself, going out to eat by himself and rarely talking with his parents. Then the story switches over to a girl named Maribeth Robertson who has one meaningless experience with a boy, and ends up pregnant. Her father sends her to the nun's and tells her not to come home until she gets rid of it. When she arrives, she hates it there and decides to leave with the money her father gave her to pay the nuns. She takes the train to a city where she gets a job at a café. One day she was working, that is where the two families first intertwine.
Tommy walks in to have dinner and Maribeth waits on him, eventually Tommy comes in everyday and he and Maribeth become very close. They share personal secrets about their lives, and become each other 's need that they were looking for. Maribeth becomes very close with the Whittakers and helps to bind the family back together. When the baby arrives, it is the gift to the Whittaker family of a new baby girl and a gift to Maribeth because she knows that the baby is in good care. When Mrs. Whittaker accepts her offer of adoption it is so emotional and uplifting.
This is such a touching story that I think is aimed more at a younger audience. It is a lesson to young girls out there to be careful, and a message to the world that a kind person can change a life. I really enjoyed reading this and it is a short read definitely worth a try!
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