Book Review: Soar - The Incredible Journey of Hendrix and Ryder (OT)(osprey migration, adventures and values)

Soar: The Incredible Journey of Hendrix and Ryder, by Letitia Burton (Southport Press, 212 pp, $14.99, 2022)

Possible DogEvals Book of the Year for 2022!

A new classic in the vein of Charlotte's Web, Soar will touch your heart, grab it hard and never let it go, whether you are big or little. 

The Story, Warm and Fuzzy, Yet Also Exciting

Author Letitia Burton explains that she uses poetic license in penning a better story than reality would dictate but she does so in an appendix, as she writes the real story of ospreys in the book when brother ospreys stay together through thick and thin on their way south (but in real life, they migrate one by one). Burton also is just a tiny bit creative with the spider's lifestyle even though parasites often travel on ospreys like our spider-hero does.

The book opens with young osprey brothers still in the nest as their parents get ready to migrate south for the winter alone - before the youngsters even learn to fly on their own. Ryder is assertive and flies sooner than his brother Hendrix, who bears the brunt of some bullying from other youngsters of the osprey kind. 

Gramps is also a major character throughout our story as he stays north late in the season to impart his wisdom to the younger set, preparing them and educating them to survive the trip south.

The Incredible Journey

We have a love interest and plenty of near misses - adventures and mishaps that the brothers and the spider-friend must overcome on the way south as they also reach a deeper understanding of family, and love, and brotherly support. And, yes, it is a tear-jerker, a keeper, with accidents and storms and a race, but also with beautiful word-scenes of flying and soaring on the wind. And the love of family.

Writing Style

The author has a lovely way of including us in the story in the guise of Hendrix with all his foibles. We learn that Gramps tells him everyone has a special gift, a superpower: that his brother is brave, but he, Hendrix, can learn to read the weather which is so necessary on flights.

What Would We Change?

We might prefer a cuter illustration of the ospreys to grab a reader's attention in the bookstore. And we are surprised Soar has not yet won any major writing awards. Hopefully that will change as we predict it will remain a new classic for a long time to come.

Book Review: Beyond Diversity (OT) (12 non-obvious ways to build a more inclusive world)

Beyond Diversity: 12 Non-obvious Ways to Build a More Inclusive World, by Rohit Bhargava and Jennifer Brown (Ideapress Publishing, 268pp, $17.79, 2021)

This book is well-written and organized extremely well in 12 chapters, with each having an identical outline of information so you can easily compare the subjects. Basically it is a conference proceedings - the result of a day-long conversation among 200 people who are experts in the field of diversity, plus others who are just simply leaders in their fields of government, education, healthcare, etc. 

The Purpose

The purpose of the conference and thus this book was to figure out where we are now, where we need to go and how to get there in the area of diversity in different areas of human life. 

Compiling this proceedings and the previous conversation/convention/conference upon which it is based took an incredible amount of planning and organizing as well as summarizing, the job of reading it made easier through the use of headings, quotations, and boxed information.

And The Dozen Are. . . .

The 12 chapters encompass the following: 

    storytelling, 

    culture, 

    identity, 

    family, 

    retail, 

    education, 

    technology, 

    entrepreneurship, 

    leadership, 

    government, 

    workplace, and 

    future - all aspects of our lives that can be improved upon. The hardest part is deciding which chapter to read first!

However, . . . .

However, I felt the next steps are not obvious - I expected some future milestones  and more specific goals.

Book Review: If I Were the Ocean, I'd Carry You Home (OT) (short book of short stories)

If I Were the Ocean, I'd Carry You Home, by Peter Hsu (Red Hen Press, 2022, $14.95 paperback, 178 pp)

A refreshing book, I thought - a collection of short stories that this reviewer started from the beginning rather than picking and choosing which story to read next, based on the title. The titles are intriguing and the tone of several stories is not exactly threatening or scary but placed me back in my childhood as I reminisced the feelings and thoughts I once had.

Author Peter Hsu captures the essence of childhood, be it a little girl or little boy, precisely: the actions, the thoughts, the minds wandering here and there, wondering what it's like to be all grown up.

Part of "Pluto," the first of a dozen, in which a boy runs around a track with his dad - a track with nine lanes so they can get in 2 1/4 miles and after each lap, the boy says "Lane one, Mercury," then "Lane two, Venus," and on down the list of planets until he talks about his science project -  Pluto.

And then there is "From the Brush, A Frantic Rustling" about a little girl and a man who lets her shoot his rifle. She outshoots him (rather unlikely, says this former Army soldier) by a long shot until the end - which doesn't end as I had imagined.

All in all, another look at your childhood with the sights, smells, and thoughts you remember, as well as incredibly unique comparisons, like the pro basketball games.

Book Review: Life and Death at Zoo Arroyo (OT)(zoo/sanctuary, wild animals, breeding gone amuk?)

Life and Death at Zoo Arroyo, A Witherston Murder Mystery, by Betty Jean Craige (Luminare Press, $13.95 paperback, 332 pp)

Wow!

The year is 2030. 

The place is a small southeastern zoo-sanctuary run by the Arroyo twin brothers, a veterinarian and a PhD geneticist, where they rehabilitate wild animals and seek to increase the numbers of species in dangerous decline.

The characters are almost too numerous to remember (much like an overly long Russian historical novel), many of whom seem to be related and Hispanic, thus making Life and Death at Zoo Arroyo a cultural novel that also educates (Peru and various musical instruments, especially). 

The protagonists (good guys) are a 20-something scientist with a masters degree, the veterinarian twin and others who turn out to be bad guys who kidnap wild animals and sell them to private zoos, among other related nefarious acts.

The reader will learn the difference between a mosaic and a chimera (biological, actually genetic, terms) and will also learn how to take copious notes in order to solve a murder or two.

The author is a retired literature professor who writes successfully about many different subjects, including her relationship with a grey parrot, Cosmo.

The Book

Arroyo is the sixth Witherston murder mystery but the first in a series of mysteries starring the twins at their animal zoo-sanctuary. The previous titles centered around the small town (4,000 population) of Witherston and the twins' parents' generation of characters. Some of the same characters appear in each book so reading them in order may help but is most certainly not necessary.

 The Plot

We have one shooting after another, an international biology prize with a 5 million dollar award, and three generations of humans, as well as wild animals with human names whom we encounter and almost get to know.

Style

In four parts, Arroyo begins with pages and pages of conversation, written almost choppily, apparently for the younger reader. Part two brings us to a narrator who is much more adult-like, so that Arroyo seems to have been written by two authors with different styles. Thank goodness for larger than usual print, however, because this is a long book and convoluted, but you will want to read it all in one day as the suspense mounts.

Book Review: Unbelonging (OT)(a most unusual book)

 Unbelonging, by Gayatri  Sethi (Mango & Marigold Press, $16.95, paperback, 2021)

Is this a book of poetry, an autobiography or a text book? 

The answer depends on who the reader is. 

Unbelonging grows on you as you learn more about the author in every word poem, in every chapter - even as she repeats parts of her story, they do not bore you because each time it is creatively unique. As a matter of fact, I have never read or even seen a book like this. Words run not only left to right but in a circle, at times - or they make waves.

Does author Gayatri Sethi belong in South Asia? Does she belong in Africa? The United States? Like immigrants or expatriates or refugees or even first generation Americans, Dr. Sethi has a hard time finding where she belongs. Part of her lies in Pakistan; another part, in Botswana. And yet she quotes James Baldwin and Toni Morrison and W. E. B. DeBois. Does this strike you odd?

Unbelonging is also part workbook and challenges the reader to add his own words and thoughts - and to grow by doing so. For only by walking a mile in his moccasins, can you truly approximate understanding.

Perhaps the author is a citizen of the world. She lives, however, in America because her children live here and this is their home (and she has taught Comparative Literature here for 20 years). By reading Unbelonging, you will come away with a glimpse of a better you, a more understanding you.

Book Review: Julie's Big Day (chapter book)(OT)

 Julie's Big Day, by Pauli Libsohn (Page Publishing. 2022, 88 pp, $26.95 hardcopy)

What could a big day be, other than a birthday? 

A sixth birthday! 

And Julie's sixth is unbelievable - truly a dream come true with all her wishes fulfilled, plenty of birthday cake for breakfast, lunch and supper and her dream presents, all celebrated with her wonderful doting parents who fulfill her every wish, and with her favorite 'people' - the six dolls with names* that nearly come to life in conversation.

Every child should have such a doting family and friends (even if they are not too lively!). 

Julie's Big Day is a big book, rather long for a chapter book, especially for 6-year-old girls but with a unique plot like all of Pauli Rose Libsohn's. As a matter of fact, the author actually has lived all or part of all her many book plots!

A Pink Book Full of Lovely Surprises

All little girls will love the pink in Julie's book - from her always pink hair ribbons to her bedroom in a former barn loft (where the author actually had a wonderful bedroom - you cannot make this stuff up!). Her six dolls live in the six former chicken coops, now turned into luxurious doll houses.

Will Julie Get Her Pink Convertible?

Most of all, Julie wants a pink convertible so she can take all her dolls for a ride at once. What a surprise to find a cake in the shape of a pink convertible, but will Julie get her wish, her dream of a real pink convertible she can drive and that smells like pink bubblegum? If she gets the car, where will she park it - in the garage with her mom's car or in the other garage with her dad's car?

And Finally, A Lesson to be Learned

Even a perfect day with perfect parents and perfect doll-friends and perfect presents must have a lesson learned. Even perfect little girls can become more perfect. After reading this book, do you remember what the lesson was that Julie learned?

Writing Style

The author's writing style and books are unique - rather difficult for first readers in having big (8 1/2 by 11) pages full of words but some pages are illustrations only - a good respite - and long, but splotched with text in all caps to emphasize at first. After a while, this reading and guessing why becomes tedious and the reader has many questions as to why some words and not others are capped. The plot is sugary sweet and little boys may not be able to read the entire book. 

*Adorable Annabel, Bubbling Betty, Shy Charlotte, Delighted Daisy, Elegant Ella and Fashionista Florrie, of course

Book Review: Penelope Causes AN UPROAR (chapter book)(OT)

Penelope Causes AN UPROAR, by Pauli Libsohn (Page Publishing. 2021, 66 pp, $22.95 hardcopy)

Large-Sized Chapter Book (8 1/2 by 11) About a Little Girl

Penelope is a little girl who loves bubble baths, pajamas with feet (and a zipper and a snap) and bedtime stories. She has lots of little girl friends and a big imagination. Even some of her words are big - they are made of big letters LIKE THIS. Penelope is a leader who causes quite an uproar in her neighborhood.

Prolific Author

Pauli Rose Libsohn, author of 8 children's books about Penelope* plus a slew of others totaling 13, including a Julie book (see the next review), has written a long but exciting and spell-binding book about leadership, acting and loving going to bed at night. She calls a meeting of her friends and their parents and they all go out shopping for bubble bath, pajamas with feet and books of bedtime stories, JUST LIKE PENELOPE'S.

A Big Secret and a Big Uproar

Penelope has a big secret that your youngsters will read about plus they will visit The Magic Circle Bookshoppe with Miss Kirkle, the Bath TO Shower store with Mrs. Twizzle, and Jammies and Such with Miss Winnie.

But the Most Fun

Little girl readers will notice that the girls in the book are dressed like their moms in matching colored polka dot dresses. There is a lot more to notice in the illustrations, some of which span two pages.

A Chapter Book?

Yes, this is a chapter book but it would also make a much more wonderful much shorter book that can be read in one sitting right before bedtime. It is a book about a short day, a brief moment in time, but takes many pages to tell, more than can be read in one sitting, with dense print not often found in a first chapter book about little girls (older girls, yes). It is a dichotomy of a chapter book: a story for 6 year-olds but too many pages for that age. 

Unique

Author Libsohn has perfected the unique style of putting many words on a page in all capital letters. At first notice, the reader likes the emphasis but it soon ceases to pique one's interest as to why this word is 'capped' and not that one. Wondering can be exhausting.

*my favorite will probably be the one about her half-birthday, something I have celebrated all my life. It is a good excuse to give another birthday present when you forget the real birthday!

Book Review: Rabbit at the Sliding Door - Chloe's Story (OT)(a bunny at your door)

Rabbit at the Sliding Door - Chloe's Story, by Denise Branco (Strolling Hills Publishing, 2022, 78 pages, $19.77) A Distinguished Favorite in the 2022 NYC Big Book Award Contest.

Almost a Ten!

Rabbit at the Sliding Door is a lovely book for everyone to keep - to read to children in early grades (short chapters) yet also delivering life lessons to teens and, for adults, a sweet tear-jerker of an evening read. With a heartfelt introduction and an almost overabundance of endorsements, including from "just regular folks," it truly will make you want to adopt a homeless animal - and bunnies are right behind cats and dogs in numbers of shelter animals waiting for a forever home.

The Story

One fine day, a bunny rabbit simply appears on the other side of author Denise Branco's sliding glass door, then hops away only to return for the petunias. She travels between neighboring houses until our author barricades her in the large backyard and offers food and lodging. 

What can a wild animal teach a lonely human being?

A little bit apprehensive, you will read this thrilling tale faster and faster with dread but eventually slow down to a nice pace as you realize that Chloe Bunny is safe - you are ready to learn about backyard bunnies and what stresses them as well as their favorite foods, some of which are surprises.

What Price Freedom?

Is a life of ease with plenty of food and water, good shelter and enough companionship worth more or less than an adventurous yet sometimes frightening and possibly shorter life in a larger world with a variety of experiences?

Pets Enrich Our Lives, But Who Adopted Who?

Can you have a pet who is a wild animal, never coming into your house, allowing touch but not handling from only two people? The lesson to leave wildlife alone is one that wild animals teach us but not all of us learn. The closest they let the relationship grow may be to follow you around your yard as you work. Sometimes that is the same with people and we have to accept what we are offered, on their terms. And thank them for that.

Author Branco knows that living indoors may have prolonged Bunny Chloe's life, but left it less rewarding. A backyard sanctuary may be just as rewarding as total freedom, or close to it, without the danger from predators or cars and with a smorgasbord of edibles delivered twice a day.

What Would I Change?

Perhaps I might make the bunny photos introducing each of the 11 unnumbered chapters larger (there were a couple that almost had Chloe hidden in the background) and left-justify the table of contents but these are minor modifications. I would begin the tale with a whopper of an opening sentence, also, to fit this bunny tale.

Permanent Footprints on Your Heart

Whatever happens and for how long, an animal, even a wild one can communicate with us and leave lessons for those who are ready to learn. Rabbit is a book you will not soon forget.