An often entertaining romp for passionate dog lovers.
A cute, articulate dog named Lina is back for another round of dishing on life with her challenging human, Momma, in this sequel, credited to Little Big Ears (a.k.a. Lina) (Lina Unleashed, 2017).
Toy Australian shepherd Lina was adopted by Momma when she was eight weeks old. They’ve been together now for five years, dividing their time between lake-filled Minnesota and Marco Island, Florida—a cruel twist of fate for a pup who hates water. With a bit of human assistance, Lina records her adventures and misadventures on her blog, LinasDogBlog. This second series installment details two years of traumas, joys, and achievements, all communicated in the gently sassy voice of a wise, tiny canine. She describes Momma as “a hopeless shopaholic; she doesn’t know a hashtag from a dog tag; she has almost no social skills; and worst of all—she’s a Republican.” In March 2017, the duo is recuperating—Momma from a concussion sustained in Naples, Florida, which appears to be making her a bit scatterbrained, and Lina from the outcome of the 2016 election. For readers of the first book, there’s familiar terrain, including frequent, outrageously costly visits to the veterinarian, and the ordeal of trying to fit Lina’s carrier under an airplane seat. But there’s also new material, as when an incorrectly set house alarm sends Lina cowering under the bed: “Could this be the raid by ICE I had feared?” she asks readers. “Was this part of the new Trump roundup plan?” Overall, the author lightheartedly teases both sides of the political aisle, although some readers will take exception to Momma saying, “The term is not undocumented immigrant, Lina, it’s illegal alien.” Also, too many tales have to do with the marketing of Lina Unleashed, including book signings and the introduction of a line of notecards. Most are quite amusing, but their abundance turns an otherwise engaging sequel into a promotional tool for the original. That said, the full-color photos are consistently adorable, and in one particularly endearing vignette, the spunky 11-pound canine proudly receives her herding certificate after successfully chasing five grown sheep around an enclosed pasture.
An often entertaining romp for passionate dog lovers.Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-64343-909-9
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Beaver's Pond Press
Review Posted Online: Nov. 7, 2019
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
A strict report, worthy of sympathy.
A violent surfacing of adolescence (which has little in common with Tarkington's earlier, broadly comic, Seventeen) has a compulsive impact.
"Nobody big except me" is the dream world of Holden Caulfield and his first person story is down to the basic, drab English of the pre-collegiate. For Holden is now being bounced from fancy prep, and, after a vicious evening with hall- and roommates, heads for New York to try to keep his latest failure from his parents. He tries to have a wild evening (all he does is pay the check), is terrorized by the hotel elevator man and his on-call whore, has a date with a girl he likes—and hates, sees his 10 year old sister, Phoebe. He also visits a sympathetic English teacher after trying on a drunken session, and when he keeps his date with Phoebe, who turns up with her suitcase to join him on his flight, he heads home to a hospital siege. This is tender and true, and impossible, in its picture of the old hells of young boys, the lonesomeness and tentative attempts to be mature and secure, the awful block between youth and being grown-up, the fright and sickness that humans and their behavior cause the challenging, the dramatization of the big bang. It is a sorry little worm's view of the off-beat of adult pressure, of contemporary strictures and conformity, of sentiment….
A strict report, worthy of sympathy.Pub Date: June 15, 1951
ISBN: 0316769177
Page Count: -
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Nov. 2, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1951
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
APPRECIATIONS
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.
Sisters work together to solve a child-abandonment case.
Ellie and Julia Cates have never been close. Julia is shy and brainy; Ellie gets by on charm and looks. Their differences must be tossed aside when a traumatized young girl wanders in from the forest into their hometown in Washington. The sisters’ professional skills are put to the test. Julia is a world-renowned child psychologist who has lost her edge. She is reeling from a case that went publicly sour. Though she was cleared of all wrongdoing, Julia’s name was tarnished, forcing her to shutter her Beverly Hills practice. Ellie Barton is the local police chief in Rain Valley, who’s never faced a tougher case. This is her chance to prove she is more than just a fading homecoming queen, but a scarcity of clues and a reluctant victim make locating the girl’s parents nearly impossible. Ellie places an SOS call to her sister; she needs an expert to rehabilitate this wild-child who has been living outside of civilization for years. Confronted with her professional demons, Julia once again has the opportunity to display her talents and salvage her reputation. Hannah (The Things We Do for Love, 2004, etc.) is at her best when writing from the girl’s perspective. The feral wolf-child keeps the reader interested long after the other, transparent characters have grown tiresome. Hannah’s torturously over-written romance passages are stale, but there are surprises in store as the sisters set about unearthing Alice’s past and creating a home for her.
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.Pub Date: March 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-345-46752-3
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2005
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