A loon’s summer is spectacular to observe in this educational work.
Intriguing loons are the focus of Fast’s informative book of poetry and photos.
Loons arrive to northern lakes in the summertime, once the ice has melted. In these pages, the author conjures the beauty of these waterbirds using poems, images, and descriptive text in a format that will appeal to readers of all ages. Following each poem is more detailed and enriching information. For example, the first work, “Waiting,” is short and poignant:“Lake still frozen. / Overhead, loons call. / Waiting.” Further text notes that “Loons fly overhead looking for open water. As soon as the lakes open, they descend.” The “belly-slide” of landing on water is described in detail in “Loons Land.” Readers also learn about the five different types of this bird species, including the common loon in a poem by that name. Others focus on loon songs or calls, including hoots, peeps, wails, yodels, and tremolos. Fast’s descriptions of each employ compelling language, as in “Wail”: “Loon’s voice escalates, / reverberates, dissipates, / quieting all sounds.” The tremolo call is depicted eerily: “Peals out agony, cries out woe / startling, haunting tremolo”; the sound “tells of danger / speaks distress.” In “Loon Party,” readers learn that loons gathering in groups signals the end of summer and colder weather; many will find it interesting to learn that “Adults leave first; the chicks follow a few weeks later” in November. Youngsters may particularly enjoy learning about loon young and how much they depend on their mothers, often hitching a ride on “Mama’s back.” Throughout, readers will be drawn to the beauty of Schoch’s full-color photographs; a magnificent example is an image of a loon nest, featuring a female loon with an egg; it, along with the other photos, enhances the poetry and other text.
A loon’s summer is spectacular to observe in this educational work.Pub Date: Sept. 2, 2022
ISBN: 9781639884568
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Atmosphere Press
Review Posted Online: May 17, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
An affecting portrait of a prickly woman.
A lifetime’s worth of letters combine to portray a singular character.
Sybil Van Antwerp, a cantankerous but exceedingly well-mannered septuagenarian, is the titular correspondent in Evans’ debut novel. Sybil has retired from a beloved job as chief clerk to a judge with whom she had previously been in private legal practice. She is the divorced mother of two living adult children and one who died when he was 8. She is a reader of novels, a gardener, and a keen observer of human nature. But the most distinguishing thing about Sybil is her lifelong practice of letter writing. As advancing vision problems threaten Sybil’s carefully constructed way of life—in which letters take the place of personal contact and engagement—she must reckon with unaddressed issues from her past that threaten the house of cards (letters, really) she has built around herself. Sybil’s relationships are gradually revealed in the series of letters sent to and received from, among others, her brother, sister-in-law, children, former work associates, and, intriguingly, literary icons including Joan Didion and Larry McMurtry. Perhaps most affecting is the series of missives Sybil writes but never mails to a shadowy figure from her past. Thoughtful musings on the value and immortal quality of letters and the written word populate one of Sybil’s notes to a young correspondent while other messages are laugh-out-loud funny, tinged with her characteristic blunt tartness. Evans has created a brusque and quirky yet endearing main character with no shortage of opinions and advice for others but who fails to excavate the knotty difficulties of her own life. As Sybil grows into a delayed self-awareness, her letters serve as a chronicle of fitful growth.
An affecting portrait of a prickly woman.Pub Date: May 6, 2025
ISBN: 9780593798430
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2025
Though uneven, this is still a pleasurable, comforting read.
Infertility, family secrets, and alpacas all figure in Quindlen’s latest meditation on mothering and domesticity.
Polly’s life looks enviable. Happily married to the adoring Mark—a vet at the Bronx Zoo—she teaches English at a private Manhattan girls’ school and loves her work. She has a protective older brother and close girlfriends, who’ve formed a book club where no one is expected to read the book. But Polly desperately wants a child and, at 42, knows time is running out. She and Mark have gone through endless fertility treatments, to no avail. Meantime, Polly’s friends have given her a DNA kit as a jokey birthday gift, and something mysterious shows up in the test results. Then, out of nowhere, a young woman contacts her, suggesting they may be related. That’s not all: Polly feels estranged from her mother, a revered judge who’s insufficiently maternal in her daughter’s view. Her father has always cherished her, but he’s in a nursing home now with a rapidly failing mind. And something is amiss with her best pal, Sarah. Quindlen’s trademark empathy is evident throughout, and her wry humor leavens some of the serious goings-on. Early on, Mark and Polly visit a fertility clinic with photos of babies in the waiting room; for Polly, “it felt…like a Weight Watchers facility with hot fudge sundae pictures on the wall.” Then we meet these charming alpacas, humming and pronking, on a farm run by an earth mother, whose wisdom will help Polly get on with her life. The plot swerves around a bit, there may be one surplus narrative thread (e.g., Polly’s star student Josephine running aground after graduation), and at the end, the author ties things up too neatly, pushing the “circle of life” theme too hard.
Though uneven, this is still a pleasurable, comforting read.Pub Date: Feb. 24, 2026
ISBN: 9780593734605
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Nov. 22, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2026
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