A deeply moving account of a soulful dog. After Anna and Steve Tolson moved from England to an isolated home in Zambia to found a wildlife education center, they wished for a good dog, but they had been warned that no pet could be safe there. In spite of this, they adopted Bulu, a Jack Russell terrier–cross puppy, who readily adapted to life in the bush but never relinquished his supreme belief in himself, willing to challenge even lions and elephants to protect his “family.” That family grew to include numerous orphaned wild animals that the Tolsons fostered during Bulu’s life—with his tender loving care lavished upon them. While this effort portrays major events in the dog’s life, it also includes information about conservation issues in Africa and the Tolson’s dedicated environmental-education work with children. The only downside: Houston’s fly-on-the-wall reporting style includes dialogue and details that can only be surmised; he later apologizes for changing “the sequence of certain events” and combining “similar episodes” in order to “maintain the integrity of the story line.” As fiction based on fact, thoroughly absorbing. (glossary) (Fiction. 10 & up)
Pub Date: May 25, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-375-84723-3
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: May 12, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2010
BOOK REVIEW
Dolphin lovers will appreciate this look at our complicated relationship with these marine mammals.
Is dolphin-assisted therapy so beneficial to patients that it’s worth keeping a wild dolphin captive?
Twelve-year-old Lily has lived with her emotionally distant oncologist stepfather and a succession of nannies since her mother died in a car accident two years ago. Nannies leave because of the difficulty of caring for Adam, Lily’s severely autistic 4-year-old half brother. The newest, Suzanne, seems promising, but Lily is tired of feeling like a planet orbiting the sun Adam. When she meets blind Zoe, who will attend the same private middle school as Lily in the fall, Lily’s happy to have a friend. However, Zoe’s take on the plight of the captive dolphin, Nori, used in Adam’s therapy opens Lily’s eyes. She knows she must use her influence over her stepfather, who is consulting on Nori’s treatment for cancer (caused by an oil spill), to free the animal. Lily’s got several fine lines to walk, as she works to hold onto her new friend, convince her stepfather of the rightness of releasing Nori, and do what’s best for Adam. In her newest exploration of animal-human relationships, Rorby’s lonely, mature heroine faces tough but realistic situations. Siblings of children on the spectrum will identify with Lily. If the tale flirts with sentimentality and some of the characters are strident in their views, the whole never feels maudlin or didactic.
Dolphin lovers will appreciate this look at our complicated relationship with these marine mammals. (Fiction. 10-13)Pub Date: May 26, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-545-67605-2
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2015
This substantial introduction to toxic creatures of all kinds, both poisonous (to eat) and venomous (injecting their poison), is chock full of fascinating facts. Organizing the text by habitat, Singer moves from home and garden through desert, woods and jungle, to the sea shores, coral reefs and ocean depths. She discusses some species in several different chapters: Snakes appear in the grass, the desert, the pond, the jungle and the sea. The organization occasionally breaks down. In “Home is where the venom is,” the reader learns that black lemurs in Madagascar use millipede poison to repel insects. The busy design is clearly aimed at middle graders who may not recognize the bits of song and poetry behind the catchy chapter titles, but will appreciate the light tone. Sidebars provide extra information and puzzles for the reader. Despite repeated assurances that such animals are of more value than threat to humans, the overall effect is pretty scary. A two page webliography lists an intriguing variety of mostly academic and governmental sites for further exploration of this always interesting subject. (acknowledgments, bibliography, glossary, index) (Nonfiction. 10-14)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2007
ISBN: 978-1-58196-043-3
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Darby Creek
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2007
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