A madcap, entertaining escape from reality from the canine perspective.
An imaginative “autobiography” by Leo, a mixed-breed, large-eared dog with extraordinary abilities.
We meet Leo, who at this point is nameless, while he’s riding in a car with Mary, a woman who works with Hoover Animal Control. She rescued him from the road where he landed after he was thrown from a van while it was speeding down a desert highway. The pup has a broken leg and a badly bruised head and is barely conscious when Mary brings him to the vet, Dr. Francis. The trauma of his injuries causes Leo to lose all memory of his life before he was thrown from the van. That night, Birdie, a cat who lives at the veterinary hospital, comes to visit and taunt Leo, telling him they’re going to cut off his leg and his “doodads.” Fortunately, Mary comes to his rescue once again, offering to pay for the expensive orthopedic surgery that will save his leg. So begins Pass’ complex, frequently comedic fantasy, an adventure in which all the animals speak with one another, but they can’t communicate with humans—with one exception. As the story progresses, Dr. Francis discovers he can understand Leo, a revelation that begins to drive the poor doctor mad. After the surgery, Mary brings Leo home, names him Leonardo DiCaprio (aka Leo), and introduces him to the other rescue animals who live with her: Shakespeare, an ebullient pug; Antonio, a loquacious macaw; and Dwid, a one-eyed cat. Shakespeare, delighted to acquire the big brother he’s always longed for, devotes himself to Leo, who gradually begins to recover the skills he’d accumulated during his life before the van. He can read—he loves books—and he’s a philosophical thinker who changes his name to Rousseau, aka Rou. But he has no recollection of his puppyhood. He knows only that he’s different—not quite like any other dog, yet certainly not human—and he’s determined to solve the mystery of his origins. With the faithful Shakespeare by his side, he escapes into the desert, convinced that the bright light in the distance holds the answer.
The author, a former veterinarian, portrays his canid characters (both dogs and coyotes) and cats with an understanding of each species that brings them to life, no matter how far-fetched their capers. He takes readers on a lengthy, complicated, rowdy ride through the desert, to a coyote den, and through a city of lights and fountains. The humans in the narrative have more quirks than the animals, especially Dr. Francis, whom we meet again roaming with a pack of stray dogs. Rou is a stalwart lead, smart as a whip and tenderhearted, and second banana Shakespeare is an endearing, jovial ball of energy. Pass’ novel abounds with witty dialogue, biting sarcasm, and page-turning action. The short epilogue suggests that a sequel may be in the works. Although most appropriate for YA readers, this sometimes overly intricate romp will appeal to all ages.
A madcap, entertaining escape from reality from the canine perspective.Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2024
ISBN: 9798989180509
Page Count: 387
Publisher: Thiessen Press
Review Posted Online: April 1, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Still, a respectful and absorbing page-turner.
Hannah’s new novel is an homage to the extraordinary courage and endurance of Frenchwomen during World War II.
In 1995, an elderly unnamed widow is moving into an Oregon nursing home on the urging of her controlling son, Julien, a surgeon. This trajectory is interrupted when she receives an invitation to return to France to attend a ceremony honoring passeurs: people who aided the escape of others during the war. Cut to spring, 1940: Viann has said goodbye to husband Antoine, who's off to hold the Maginot line against invading Germans. She returns to tending her small farm, Le Jardin, in the Loire Valley, teaching at the local school and coping with daughter Sophie’s adolescent rebellion. Soon, that world is upended: The Germans march into Paris and refugees flee south, overrunning Viann’s land. Her long-estranged younger sister, Isabelle, who has been kicked out of multiple convent schools, is sent to Le Jardin by Julien, their father in Paris, a drunken, decidedly unpaternal Great War veteran. As the depredations increase in the occupied zone—food rationing, systematic looting, and the billeting of a German officer, Capt. Beck, at Le Jardin—Isabelle’s outspokenness is a liability. She joins the Resistance, volunteering for dangerous duty: shepherding downed Allied airmen across the Pyrenees to Spain. Code-named the Nightingale, Isabelle will rescue many before she's captured. Meanwhile, Viann’s journey from passive to active resistance is less dramatic but no less wrenching. Hannah vividly demonstrates how the Nazis, through starvation, intimidation and barbarity both casual and calculated, demoralized the French, engineering a community collapse that enabled the deportations and deaths of more than 70,000 Jews. Hannah’s proven storytelling skills are ideally suited to depicting such cataclysmic events, but her tendency to sentimentalize undermines the gravitas of this tale.
Still, a respectful and absorbing page-turner.Pub Date: Feb. 3, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-312-57722-3
Page Count: 448
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: Nov. 19, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2014
BOOK TO SCREEN
SEEN & HEARD
Uneven but fitfully amusing.
Betrayed by her husband, a severely depressed young woman gets drawn into the over-the-top festivities at a lavish wedding.
Phoebe Stone, who teaches English literature at a St. Louis college, is plotting her own demise. Her husband, Matt, has left her for another woman, and Phoebe is taking it hard. Indeed, she's determined just where and how she will end it all: at an oceanfront hotel in Newport, where she will lie on a king-sized canopy bed and take a bottle of her cat’s painkillers. At the hotel, Phoebe meets bride-to-be Lila, a headstrong rich girl presiding over her own extravagant six-day wedding celebration. Lila thought she had booked every room in the hotel, and learning of Phoebe's suicidal intentions, she forbids this stray guest from disrupting the nuptials: “No. You definitely can’t kill yourself. This is my wedding week.” After the punchy opening, a grim flashback to the meltdown of Phoebe's marriage temporarily darkens the mood, but things pick up when spoiled Lila interrupts Phoebe's preparations and sweeps her up in the wedding juggernaut. The slide from earnest drama to broad farce is somewhat jarring, but from this point on, Espach crafts an enjoyable—if overstuffed—comedy of manners. When the original maid of honor drops out, Phoebe is persuaded, against her better judgment, to take her place. There’s some fun to be had here: The wedding party—including groom-to-be Gary, a widower, and his 11-year-old daughter—takes surfing lessons; the women in the group have a session with a Sex Woman. But it all goes on too long, and the humor can seem forced, reaching a low point when someone has sex with the vintage wedding car (you don’t want to know the details). Later, when two characters have a meet-cute in a hot tub, readers will guess exactly how the marriage plot resolves.
Uneven but fitfully amusing.Pub Date: July 30, 2024
ISBN: 9781250899576
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: Sept. 13, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
