Object-Oriented JavaScript by Stoyan Stefanov is a first among JavaScript books in my opinion. OOP in JavaScript is not new, but has gained much popularity since the use of JavaScript in Ajax and the development of JavaScript libraries and widgets from various web companies (especially Yahoo!). Learning how to create component-based applications using JavaScript is not an easy thing to master if all you know about JavaScript is doing "mouse-overs" or neat little effects. There really isn't a book out there that really explains how OOP works in JavaScript completely.

There are books from Apress and WROX that are geared towards "intermediate" topics in JavaScript such as creating objects and so forth, but they quickly go into sing custom libraries which really doesn't teach you anything apart from using a library.

This book really goes into detail in explaining how the syntax of JavaScript can be used to create scalable applications from the ground-up. I would say this book is geared for the developer who has a grasp on the language itself but wants to learn more in creating real useful applications for the web using JavaScript and wants to learn without depending on any pre-built library or component.

The author goes into the basics of the language first (chapter 1-2) then spends a chapter on functions (chapter 3) which is the many ways in JavaScript to create objects. Since JavaScript is not a fully OO language, it can get confusing on understanding the many different ways to create an object. Stoyan explains it very well with many examples so anybody can understand it.

The next few chapters (4 - 6), the author goes into OOP practices like how objects work, the Prototype built-in object, inheritance, and many of the built-in methods and properties you can use to manipulate your custom objects. Yes, object literal notation is covered in-depth since it really is the standard way in JavaScript to create objects.

The rest of the book has some excellent chapters on the BOM, DOM, Ajax and Design Patterns which really round out the book and make it worth it. I have never seen a book so complete on some of the more intermediate to advanced features of JavaScript and explaining it so anybody can learn it.