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LITTLE BOY BLUE

A PUPPY'S RESCUE FROM DEATH ROW AND HIS OWNER'S JOURNEY FOR TRUTH

A moving call to action.

Freelance journalist Kavin (The Everything Travel Guide to Italy, 2010, etc.) hunts down the story of what happened to her rescue dog Boy Blue.

In 2010, the author helped rescue Blue from certain death in an animal shelter in North Carolina. She found him online and was able to quickly provide the lucky survivor with a loving home, where he has flourished. Learning that her new companion might have been infected with ringworm and fearing “that something about his situation had been horribly, horribly wrong,” she applied her investigating skills to uncovering the trail. Her first step was contacting Lulu’s Rescue co-founder Michele Armstrong, who told her that Blue had been “headed for the gas chamber.” The trail then led her to Person County Animal Rescue volunteers in North Carolina, who introduced her to the brutal conditions that Blue faced when he got dumped into the animal shelter. There are 13,000 rescue groups listed online at Petfinder.com, all struggling to find homes for unwanted puppies. The author describes them as functioning “like a modern day version of the underground railroad,” and that's only the tip of the iceberg. Many unaffiliated volunteers are also involved in rescue efforts. The rescue groups often set standards for shelters and promote the spaying and neutering of animals put up for adoption, as well as finding loving homes, but money and volunteers are in short supply. This book chronicles one of the success stories. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to the Petfinder.com Foundation.

A moving call to action.

Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2012

ISBN: 978-0-7641-6526-9

Page Count: 256

Publisher: Barron's

Review Posted Online: March 30, 2012

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2012

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NUTCRACKER

This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)

Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996

ISBN: 0-15-100227-4

Page Count: 136

Publisher: Harcourt

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996

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TO THE ONE I LOVE THE BEST

EPISODES FROM THE LIFE OF LADY MENDL (ELSIE DE WOLFE)

An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.

Pub Date: Feb. 23, 1955

ISBN: 0670717797

Page Count: -

Publisher: Viking

Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1955

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