While some mild moralizing creeps in at times, this real world–based animal fantasy delivers resonant lessons in...
In this sequel, five dogs and two cats, who previously collaborated on a theatrical endeavor, travel to New Zealand to put on a show.
In her first children’s book, Sieglinde C. Othmer (Whims, Wits, and Whiskers, 2012, etc.), a published scholar of clinical psychiatry and psychology, combined her professional background and passion for animals in a humorous, pet-centered tale promoting friendship, personal growth, and creativity. The dogs and cats, who staged a production in a Missouri forest in their debut outing, continue learning life lessons in this sequel. The group takes its creative talents much farther afield—to a sheep farm in New Zealand. The animals’ new show has a purpose: to raise awareness for endangered kiwi birds. Transported to New Zealand in baskets carried by giant condors (a highly enjoyable bit of whimsy), the band includes wise Mr. Guinness, a Lab/pit bull; tenderhearted, shy Lexi, a Shih Tzu; Bailey, a peaceable Lab; the smart and snarky terrier Rosie; brash, hyperactive, and gassy George, a basset hound/beagle mix; French-speaking black cat Miles; and tabby Cosmo. Making new friends on the sheep farm, the group learns that stoats are threatening the kiwis in their forest habitat. Bashful Lexi is in the spotlight, finding strength through her compassion for the not-so-evil stoats and leading the band to a solution that works for all. As the story unfolds, the animals learn and grow while confronting and comforting one another through various conflicts, challenges, and triumphs. These vividly depicted, humanlike animal characters—who can use computers, wield paintbrushes, sing, and dance—are stand-ins for readers of any age struggling with similar self-doubts or other anxieties. Although a tone of benign lecturing is more prevalent here than in the preceding book, the author’s captivating alternative reality resonates with reassurance and coping strategies. Rosean (Whims, Wits, and Whiskers, 2012) again offers witty visual accompaniments to the text with deftly rendered ink and graphite drawings. Small images of flora and fauna, sketched with realistic details by debut illustrator Julia Othmer, are sprinkled throughout. (A warning: when overwhelmed by emotions, George uses the words “damn” and “bastards.”)
While some mild moralizing creeps in at times, this real world–based animal fantasy delivers resonant lessons in character-building and conflict resolution with humor and heart.Pub Date: Nov. 3, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-5462-1277-5
Page Count: 276
Publisher: AuthorHouse
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
A dramatic, vividly detailed reconstruction of a little-known aspect of the Vietnam War.
A young woman’s experience as a nurse in Vietnam casts a deep shadow over her life.
When we learn that the farewell party in the opening scene is for Frances “Frankie” McGrath’s older brother—“a golden boy, a wild child who could make the hardest heart soften”—who is leaving to serve in Vietnam in 1966, we feel pretty certain that poor Finley McGrath is marked for death. Still, it’s a surprise when the fateful doorbell rings less than 20 pages later. His death inspires his sister to enlist as an Army nurse, and this turn of events is just the beginning of a roller coaster of a plot that’s impressive and engrossing if at times a bit formulaic. Hannah renders the experiences of the young women who served in Vietnam in all-encompassing detail. The first half of the book, set in gore-drenched hospital wards, mildewed dorm rooms, and boozy officers’ clubs, is an exciting read, tracking the transformation of virginal, uptight Frankie into a crack surgical nurse and woman of the world. Her tensely platonic romance with a married surgeon ends when his broken, unbreathing body is airlifted out by helicopter; she throws her pent-up passion into a wild affair with a soldier who happens to be her dead brother’s best friend. In the second part of the book, after the war, Frankie seems to experience every possible bad break. A drawback of the story is that none of the secondary characters in her life are fully three-dimensional: Her dismissive, chauvinistic father and tight-lipped, pill-popping mother, her fellow nurses, and her various love interests are more plot devices than people. You’ll wish you could have gone to Vegas and placed a bet on the ending—while it’s against all the odds, you’ll see it coming from a mile away.
A dramatic, vividly detailed reconstruction of a little-known aspect of the Vietnam War.Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9781250178633
Page Count: 480
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: Nov. 4, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2023
PERSPECTIVES
BOOK TO SCREEN
Dark and unsettling, this novel’s end arrives abruptly even as readers are still moving at a breakneck speed.
Ten years after her teenage daughter went missing, a mother begins a new relationship only to discover she can't truly move on until she answers lingering questions about the past.
Laurel Mack’s life stopped in many ways the day her 15-year-old daughter, Ellie, left the house to study at the library and never returned. She drifted away from her other two children, Hanna and Jake, and eventually she and her husband, Paul, divorced. Ten years later, Ellie’s remains and her backpack are found, though the police are unable to determine the reasons for her disappearance and death. After Ellie’s funeral, Laurel begins a relationship with Floyd, a man she meets in a cafe. She's disarmed by Floyd’s charm, but when she meets his young daughter, Poppy, Laurel is startled by her resemblance to Ellie. As the novel progresses, Laurel becomes increasingly determined to learn what happened to Ellie, especially after discovering an odd connection between Poppy’s mother and her daughter even as her relationship with Floyd is becoming more serious. Jewell’s (I Found You, 2017, etc.) latest thriller moves at a brisk pace even as she plays with narrative structure: The book is split into three sections, including a first one which alternates chapters between the time of Ellie’s disappearance and the present and a second section that begins as Laurel and Floyd meet. Both of these sections primarily focus on Laurel. In the third section, Jewell alternates narrators and moments in time: The narrator switches to alternating first-person points of view (told by Poppy’s mother and Floyd) interspersed with third-person narration of Ellie’s experiences and Laurel’s discoveries in the present. All of these devices serve to build palpable tension, but the structure also contributes to how deeply disturbing the story becomes. At times, the characters and the emotional core of the events are almost obscured by such quick maneuvering through the weighty plot.
Dark and unsettling, this novel’s end arrives abruptly even as readers are still moving at a breakneck speed.Pub Date: April 24, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5011-5464-5
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: Feb. 5, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2018
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