African Predators

by Gus Mills

Another book I picked up browsing at the library, just because it looked interesting. This "coffee-table book" is about 14 species of predators that live in Africa. They are divided into three families: canines, felines, and the hyenas, with a brief explanation of how they evolved. Following a description of each species, there are sections that compare how each hunts, their social lives, and how they interact or compete with each other. A small segment at the end describes conservation efforts. The writing is straightforward, with some interesting facts but pretty dry. Lots of color photos illustrate the different animals (I almost enjoyed the pictures more than the text). For the predators like lions, cheetahs and jackals I didn't learn much new. What really caught my attention were the less familiar species featured: the brown hyena, servals and caracals, the aardwolf (related to hyenas) and ethiopian wolf, the persecuted wild dog. I couldn't get enough of looking at images of those, having seen few in books of this kind before.

Rating: 3/5 ........ 160 pages, 2001

Wally's World

by Marsha Boulton

When I saw this book about "Wally the Wonder Dog" I thought it looked like a cute dog story. It's actually more of a sobering memoir. Marsha Boulton, a Canadian writer, tells about the dogs she owned early on, who all had unhappy endings- a freak accident in the forest, a dangerous proclivity to wander busy streets, incurable disease. When she and her partner (writer Stephen Williams) were finally ready to get a dog again, they decided they needed a very sturdy one. Wally it was, a stout bull terrier with tons of spunk and personality. Wally accompanied the couple through the ups and downs of the next decade, providing them with laughs and comfort in their times of trouble. I liked reading about Boulton's life on her farm, and the antics of Wally. Most of the book, though, ends up being about the tangled legal battle Williams got into after publishing two books about a murderess. At the end, not unforseen, Wally dies of medical problems in his old age, but I was unable to feel sad about it, being so tired of reading about vindictive police actions and wranglings with lawyers. I do really like the way Boulton writes, though, so I wanted to find more of her books; I'd like to read the ones about her farm. But this is the only one in my library's system, so I don't know when that will happen.

Borrowed from the public library; found while browsing the shelves.

Rating: 3/5 ........ 272 pages, 2006

More opinions at:
Gabe 'n' Arch

The Arrival

by Shaun Tan

I've been thinking more and more of trying out some graphic novels, having read very few (one being a fabulous edition of Frankenstein illustrated by Bernie Wrightson that I read in college, mostly for the pictures.) I've got a few in mind that other book bloggers have drawn my attention to: Tales from Outer Suburbia, Clan Apis, Blankets and Charles Darwin's On the Origin of the Species by Michael Keller. So I wondered if my library had a graphic novel section, and wandering the stacks found them: right next to classics, a few shelves labeled 'COMIC BOOKS'. I felt kind of self-conscious poking through them (oddly, as I don't feel that way looking through picture books, or the YA section) and most were manga and other styles that didn't really appeal to me. But then I saw The Arrival. I looked through the entire book right there in the library (causing an outburst of where were you? when I got home, from what was supposed to be a quick ten-minute trip to the pharmacy) then brought it back home to go through again at leisure.

This book deserves that kind of close perusal, even though it's a story told without words. In beautiful, detailed, imaginative and highly communicative illustrations, Shaun Tan tells the story of an immigrant. He leaves his family in his home country and crosses an ocean to seek a better life in a bright, bustling city. Everything there is strange. The technologies, food items, writing and customs are all different- and completely fantastical, so they are strange to the reader as well, who thus shares in his wonder and confusion. As our quiet protagonist navigates this new country, he makes a few friends, meets other immigrants who share their stories, eventually finds work and brings his wife and child to join him. It's a wondrous story. I loved all the little details in the drawings; puzzled along with the man about what the symbols might mean, or what that strange-looking fruit might taste like. I loved all the curious animals, too.

The book has convinced me. I'm going to read some graphic novels, starting with whatever else I can find by this author. I love his work.

Rating: 4/5 ........ 128 pages, 2006

More opinions at: Things Mean a Lot

anyone else?

Dewey

The Small-Town Library Cat who Touched the World
by Vicki Myron and Bret Witter

I've seen this one on so many book blogs, I just had to pick it up last time I was at the library. It's the true story of a cat who lived in a small-town library in Iowa. Dewey was dumped in the library's drop box one cold night and rescued by the staff. He quickly showed he had the perfect personality for a library cat: calm, welcoming, graceful when walking on the shelves. Dewey worked his way into everyone's heart, becoming a favorite with many library patrons, seeking out laps to sit on, letting the children pet him, visiting with any group that used the library's meeting room. Beyond entering him in a local pet-photo contest, the library didn't seek any publicity for their cat. But people began talking about him, and before long he was being featured in newspapers, radio programs and magazines- not only in Iowa but across the country and eventually around the world. The story isn't just about this amazingly popular cat, though. It's also about the history of a small farming town, about how a library strives to serve its community, and about the author's personal trials, during which she often found comfort in Dewey's warm purrs. The cat himself didn't get through life easy: he also had continuing health problems, so it's all the more incredible he lived to the old age of 19. When he finally did pass away, the community (and Dewey fans around the world) showed just how widely he had been loved. It's very touching. Not the best writing, but a heartwarming story that anyone who loves cats or libraries is sure to appreciate.

Rating: 3/5 ........ 277 pages, 2008

some more opinions at:
Puss Reboots
You've GOTTA Read This!
The Narrative Casualty
Melody's Reading Corner
Foreign Circus Library
Bermudaonion's Weblog
Citizen Reader
The Zen Leaf

project's end and giveaway

I'm giving away two camel bookmarks! Let me know in the comments if you want to be entered into the drawing, which will conclude next weekend. Open worldwide.

On another note, I finally finished painting those cabinets (with a delay in wrapping it all up as the hinges we'd bought were wrong size, had to go back and exchange them all). It looks like a totally different kitchen! And as you can see in that last photo (of the group I showed half-painted before) we're now looking at tile for our kitchen (currently carpeted- ugh!). At least that's not a do-it-yourself-er, we're hiring someone to put it in.

The Golden Book of Wild Animal Pets

How to Find and Care for Animals of the Wood, Field, and Stream
by Roy Pinney

During several visits to a local thrift shop, I saw this old book sitting on the shelf. I was curious enough about it that I finally brought it home, even though it's tattered (the spine was falling off). This is a sort of children's manual for catching and keeping wild birds, insects and small mammals as pets. It tells how to find the animals in their own habitats, and methods used to catch them- pretty much anything from tadpoles and bats to rabbits and young hawks. Then describes how to make proper enclosures- I thought this was the coolest part. The book shows how to build a cage yourself, by wiring cake-cooling racks together; how to make an ant farm using two panes of glass, wood strips and tape, or how to set up a terrarium or make a jar a home for bugs (my daughter's own hobby!) It mentions several times the importance of giving proper care to any animals you keep- with particular instructions for the various species. Also explains clearly that some wild animals are never suitable to try and bring home- like bear cubs or poisonous snakes! - and emphasizes always checking to make sure it is legal in your state before trying to catch and keep most animals. I can't think a creature like a raccoon would make a good pet, and I never heard of anyone having a pet armadillo or prairie dog! but some of the animals described in the "exotics" section, like chinchillas, I've seen available in the pet store. There is also a part about putting up bird-feeders, or tempting deer close to the house with salt licks so you can observe them. The longest sections (a few pages each) describe snakes, frogs and turtles, and I particularly liked reading about flying squirrels. A very interesting little book! One I surely would have tried to put into practice as a kid.

Rating: 3/5 ........ 68 pages, 1959

A Turtle is Born

by William White

After reading those two books about sea turtles, I remembered I had another turtle book on my own shelf. This one came to me from a library sale somewhere. I didn't expect much of it, as it's a pretty old book, published before I was born (ye gads!) I thought the information would be brief, out-of-date and lacking in scope.

Well, it was actually pretty interesting. There was a lot of info packed in here, especially about what goes on inside of turtles. It shows how turtles breathe, and how their respiratory and digestive systems work. (This was partly disturbing, as the illustrations were actual photographs of turtles being dissected. Poor quality photos, too, so not only were they gross-looking, but also difficult to tell what you're looking at! I think a well-drawn diagram would have worked better). I was fascinated by the series of photos that show how a turtle embryo develops inside the egg (but again, disturbed by the fact- admitted in the text- that they peeled the shell off eggs in various stages of growth, to make the pictures). Little turtles are so cute! The book describes how turtles live in their different habitats, and the curious adaptations of some of the different species. Some, like the box turtle, can completely enclose themselves in a shell that has a hinge. On others, the shell is much smaller and the animal can't draw in its legs or head for protection. Some of the stranger-looking ones are the soft-shell turtle with a long tubular snout, and the matamata, a turtle with a thick neck, wide leering mouth and even longer nose! True, the book was lacking some facts that simply weren't known at the time- such as where sea turtles nested- but they did recognize that habitat destruction and egg-taking were threatening the populations of many species. The end of the book predicts that "many turtle species will no longer exist on earth by the year 2000". I tried to look this up, but although quite a few species went extinct around the 1800's, I couldn't find a list of any recent extinctions. In fact, quite a few have made a surprising comeback. So hopefully the world is getting a little better for turtles.

Rating: 3/5 ........ 96 pages, 1973

Winter's Tail

How One Little Dolphin Learned to Swim Again
by Juliana, Isabella and Craig Hatkoff

I had this book in mind because I read about it at SMS Book Reviews and was really intrigued. I happened to find it while at the library, and it's a fairly short kid's non-fiction book, so I sat down and read it during our visit.

Winter's Tail is about a young dolphin who got caught in fishing gear off the coast of Florida. Her tail was so entangled that by the time help arrived, the blood flow was cut off. Rescuers saved her life, but she lost her tail. The little dolphin healed and began trying to swim again, but with a side-to-side motion which caused back problems and could have resulted in further injuries to her muscles and spine. So a special prosthetic tail was designed, just for her. She adapted quickly to her new tail, swimming like a dolphin again.

I loved this story. When I first told my husband about it (he's not enamored of animals like I am) he shook his head at the cost and research effort it must have taken to make that special prosthetic tail. Why don't they spend that kind of money and time helping people? he asked. Then I pointed out that the efforts to help Winter have affected people: in the first place, they had to create a special gel padding to protect the sensitive dolphin's skin from rubbing against the prosthetic. That same gel padding is now used for war veterans who have particularly painful amputation sites. Secondly, the little dolphin's story has been inspirational to children all over the world who struggle coping with amputations or other physical handicaps themselves. They flock to the aquarium to see her. One little girl mentioned in the book was resentful of having to wear a hearing aid until she saw this little dolphin swimming with its prosthetic. So now hubby agrees with me: this is a really cool story.

Rating: 3/5 ........ 40 pages, 2009

More opinions at:
Bibliophile by the Sea
Books for Kids Blog
5 Minutes for Books

Sea Turtles of the World

by Doug Perrine

I picked up this book because it caught my eye on the library shelf, sitting right next to Voyage of the Turtle. Where Voyage is a personal narrative, with a lot of information about people who work with sea turtles, their conservation and research efforts, Sea Turtles of the World is mostly just about the turtles. It describes each of the seven sea turtle species: their appearance, diet, habitat and unique traits. It details the turtles' biology and behaviors, and answered the questions I was left with at the end of Voyage. (Such as: do nesting turtles ever dig up the nests of other turtles who already visited the beach? Yes, especially during arribadas when hundreds of turtles congregate to nest at the same time.) I was intrigued to read about ancient turtles in different forms: one with spikes on its back, the giant Archelon, or the meiolaniids, which had horns on their heads. And of course, I loved looking at the pictures. The book was an interesting and informative read, a pleasure to turn through the pages of beautiful photos.

Rating: 4/5 ........ 144 pages, 2003

anyone else read it? I'll add your link here

Enrique's Journey

the Story of a Boy's Dangerous Odyssey to Reunite with his Mother
by Sonia Nazario

This story follows one young boy from Honduras who made eight attempts to reach his mother in South Carolina, in a harrowing trip mostly on the top of freight trains, over 12,000 miles. He endured hunger and the risk of horrific injury, faced robbers, gangsters and corrupt police intent on thwarting his path or stealing what little he had. All in attempt to find his mother. She had left him in Honduras when he was only five years old, deciding it would be better for him to live with relatives and be well-provided for, than to stay together and continue in abject poverty, unable to afford schooling costs or regular meals. She didn't want to see her children grow up ignorant and digging through the local dump for food. But her son felt abandoned, his loneliness eroding over the years into anger and resentment. When he finally did make it to the US, the family reunion wasn't quite as he'd imagined, the rift during their years of separation had only widened, and troubles continued. Two parts of this book nearly made me cry- seeing how generous some people in poor regions were, giving food, water and clothing to those traveling on the trains, even when they had so little themselves. And reading about how Enrique's family continued to disintegrate even after his journey ended; it was very sad to see that despite the pain he felt from his mother leaving him behind, his girlfriend eventually saw no choice but to leave their own young daughter in Honduras when she came to the US as well. Written by a reporter who visited many of the places Enrique traveled through on his journey, and from interviews with other Latinos- both migrants and those who stayed at home, as well as caseworkers, priests, law enforcers and others involved in the issues, Enrique's Journey is a heartbreaking revelation of all the suffering and agonizing decisions faced by illegal immigrants, particularly those trying to get from poor Central American countries into the United States. It throws a lot of light on the desperation that drives people to attempt the trip, the many who don't make it, the privations felt even by those who do. The story did feel a bit dispassionate to me, written in a clipped, factual style, but the impact was great nonetheless.

I got my copy of this book from The Book Thing (free!) and read it for the Non-Fiction Five Challenge and the 2010 TBR Challenge.

Rating: 3/5 ........ 300 pages, 2006

More opinions at:
Helen's Book Blog
Lotus Reads
Latino Journalism

Meme: Influence

from Booking Through Thursday:

Are your book choices influenced by friends and family? Do their recommendations carry weight for you? Or do you choose your books solely by what you want to read?

I think everyone who mentions a book to me is an influence! My parents and sisters often tell me about interesting books they've been reading, and I jot them down to take a look at myself. I've got a book on my pile right now that a family member told me about. I read Jackdaws on my father's recommendation, The Plain Truth and The Professor and the Madman on my mother's. My neighbor often shows me new books he's bought, and loans them to me if I'm interested. It's because of him that I read The Road and Guns Germs and Steel, instead of letting them sit on my TBR for ages.

But all the same, I don't usually rush out and acquire a book to read immediately because of who told me about it. Like any other source (mostly book blogs nowadays) that adds to my book list, I jot it down and wait until the time is right for that kind of book. Pretty much at any given moment I'm choosing a book just because I feel like reading that one right now, drawing titles equally off my list, regardless of how they got there. So yes, I read quite a few books recommended to me by family and friends. They're probably more likely to be books I really enjoy, as they know my interests pretty well! But once a book title lands on that TBR list, it could gather dust for quite some time before I get around to reading it.

library stacks

Greedy eyes, during my most recent trip to the public library. I really just stopped in to drop off Voyage of the Turtle, as someone else was waiting for it (I couldn't renew, and it was a few days overdue). But of course daughter insisted on looking for books to bring home, and I started wandering the stacks. They've been rearranged a bit, since our library got remodeled a few weeks ago. I had to look up the call numbers of my favorite sections (pets and mammals, ha!) then I know which corner to go around to find them. At first I just grabbed Dewey, the book about the library cat, because I've heard so much about it. Then I kept seeing other books that looked good too, and brought this haul home:

Besides Dewey, there's another book on sea turtles, one on African predators, one about the origins of unicorn myths, and books about birdwatching, someone's amazing dog, kangaroos, and researchers who climb trees (my mom told me about this one). Now if I can only find time to read them all!

I'm pleased that my kid, although she's just barely beginning to read a few words, can already navigate the children's section by herself. She knows where to find her favorite books: curious george, max and ruby, mr. putter and tabby, anything by Mo Willems, etc. When she can't find a book she wants, she doesn't want my help, she wants to ask the children's librarian herself! Who knows her by name, as we go to the storytimes nearly every week. She also likes to help "beep the books" at the automated checkout station, and push the right buttons to get me a receipt. This all makes me very happy, in a silly kind of way. I remember knowing where my favorite stories were shelves, before I could read the titles, and being thrilled that "the library lady" knew my name, when I was little. I'm glad my daughter is having the same experiences, too.

Voyage of the Turtle

In Pursuit of the Earth's Last Dinosaur
by Carl Safina

In this information-packed book, the author literally travels the globe to learn about and observe sea turtles. The focus is mostly on leatherback turtles, but also greens, ripley's and loggerheads. He goes along on boat trips- both those full of scientists trying to net turtles for study, and fishermen who catch them unintentionally, in order to see both sides of the turtle issues. He talks to activists and conservationists, flies in aerial surveys, visits crowded holiday beaches and far-away remote islands where turtles come ashore, sometimes protected by turtle patrols, at other locations endangered by poachers stealing eggs. Most of the studies were looking at human impact upon turtles: what was causing turtle numbers in some areas to drop alarmingly, and in others to rebound? Tracking devices reveal where the turtles go on their oceanic journeys: the results are astonishing, and make it very clear that how one country treats the turtles off their shores (intentionally or not) can have a strong impact upon numbers of turtles that show up in other parts of the world- because they go all over the place! I learned a lot about some amazing people who work to save sea turtles, and to study them. And a lot about the turtles themselves- did you know that sea turtles co-existed with dinosaurs? that they can regulate their body temperature in ways that both mammals and birds use, being in this sense a warm-blooded reptile? Sea turtles dive deeper and travel farther than even the whales. It was fascinating to learn about their habitat and all the aquatic life they share it with: swordfish, sharks, jellyfishes, shrimps and many others. It's all pretty incredible, but the amount of information here is staggering, and that's probably why I didn't quite enjoy this book as much as The Eye of the Albatross (by the same author). After a while all the facts just started to weigh on me.

Borrowed from the public library.

Rating: 4/5 ......... 383 pages, 2006

More opinions at:
Silent Griot

winner!

Time to pick a winner for the foxy bookmark set! I let random.org do the work for me- out of 10 commentors, it picked number 7.

That's Cath of Read Warbler. You're a winner, Cath! Send me your address and I'll mail them out.

Everyone else, do come again! Another giveaway will be up sometime next week, for a book or bookmarks or a combination thereof, not sure yet... any favorite animals you'd like to see on a bookmark...? I'm open to suggestions!

book peeves

I saw this week's "Listful Mondays" at It's All About Books; it originated with Julie at A Small Accomplishment. I kept nodding my head at so many of their bookish pet peeves, decided I had to make a list of my own! I can't remember if I've done a meme like this before.... well, here are ten things that bug me about books:

1. Cover art that doesn't match the story, or has inaccurate details
2. Highlighted passages- underlining and marginalia just annoy me, but yellow highlighter is wrong!
3. Pages stuck together with gum- yuck! and you can never get it apart, either
4. Book plates, labels or stickers that cover part of a map or illustration on the endpapers
5. The first chapter (or more) just rehashing the last book in a series
6. Cigar odor- or anything else really stinky
7. Missing pages- especially at the end! Augh!
8. Loaning it to someone who breaks the spine
9. Trying to read a series in order but one book is always missing from the library
10. Books used for construction- okay, really, until they get left on the floor and stepped on

What are your book pet peeves?

life gets in the way

of reading sometimes. Right now I'm in the middle of this project to reface my kitchen cabinets- that means scrubbing, removing old hardware, priming, painting (three coats to cover that blue!) and putting on new hardware. So they will go from this ugly scuffed blue with old brass hinges and knobs to nice clean white with shiny nickle fittings. But it just feels like it's taking forever. I have to set aside blocks of time to paint in, and put everything away afterwards so cat/kids don't get into the stuff. Hence less reading (posting or commenting) time. I haven't even got through more than twenty pages of Safina, and his book is so fascinating, and beautifully written, too! -sigh- O well, soon enough we'll have decent-looking cupboards and a tidy kitchen again.

Here's one set halfway done.

Suburban Safari

A Year on the Lawn
by Hannah Holmes

In this engaging book, the author spent a year inspecting the doings of nature in her own backyard, and around her house. It starts off with observations on the behavior of birds, squirrels and bugs, then moves into analysis of her soil composition (different for every patch of lawn or shrubbery), location of groundwater, how trees deal with pests, the conflict between native and invasive species, what all the critters do to survive winter, etc. In minutiae (but not quite the degree of florid writing) it resembles the intricacies of Annie Dillard's Pilgrim at Tinker Creek. I was pretty intrigued by how Holmes overcame her squeamishness of creepy crawlies to put anything from insects to fungi spores under her microscope for a better look. She called in specialists to give her more information about her yard- from the number of mosquito species to the lie of geological bedrock (and its history) under her sod, to the energy-efficiency of her house. As the book progresses, she starts to wander farther afield than just her own yard, discussing deer in the neighborhood and the history of lawns, even traveling to other states to see how other people do things in their yards. I gathered from a few reviews I read before I picked up the book that some readers found this disappointing, they wished for the intimate observations to stick close to home. But since they spoiled that expectation for me, I didn't mind and found all the facts Holmes shared fascinating. Things like: male birds cannot make red (or orange or yellow) pigments for their feathers and must eat red foods to have brilliant plumage. Slugs can't crawl backwards. Earthworms, the gardener's friend! can also have negative effects. The book is packed with stuff I never dreamed off, all teeming around anyone's yard if they care to take a closer look. Sometimes, as in when she poked her nose in basement corners, or between the walls of her home, it felt a little too close to me (my mold aversion kicks in even when I'm just reading about it). But I liked this book so much I ordered my own copy through Paperback Swap before I was even halfway done. It even made me laugh a few times.

And here's all the titles I added to my TBR after combing through the reference lists at the back of hte book:

The Starling by C.J. Feare
The Forgotten Pollinators by Stephen Buchmann
Life on a Little-Known Planet by Howard Evans
World of the Opossum by F.F. Keefe
Stalking the Wild Asparagus by Euell Gibbons
North American Tree Squirrels by Michael Steele
Winter World: the Ingenuity of Animal Survival by Bernd Heinrich
Dirt the Ecstatic Skin of the Earth by William Logan
Gathering of Angels: Migrating Birds and their Ecology by Kenneth Able

I found Suburban Safari while browsing at the library; that cute squirrel on the cover (who looks like he's sticking out his tongue) grabbed my eye from a shelf. Counting it towards the What An Animal reading challenge.

Rating: 4/5 ........ 262 pages, 2005

More opinions at:
The Esoteric Viking
Cheap Sunglasses
Fear of the Blank Page
The Stay at Home Bookworm

bookmarks giveaway

I've been sketching foxes lately. And dug through my pile of bookmarks (made from magazine scrap) to find all the foxy ones. Here's a trio:

front

and back

Would anyone like to have these fox bookmarks? Leave your name in the comments! I'll pick a winner next thursday, May 6. Open to anyone, anywhere. All you need is a postal address.

Out of Harm's Way

by Terri Crisp

You know me, I always love stories about animals. Here's one I read several years ago. Out of Harm's Way is about the experiences of Terri Crisp, who rescues animals from disaster sites: floods, fires, hurricanes, oil spills, earthquakes, etc. The stories in her book are both heartbreaking and inspiring. It was never an easy thing to reach frightened, often injured animals and get them to safety- the work took a lot of patience, courage and ingenuity. It's very sad to see the animals suffering- they have no idea what happened, are bewildered by the the sudden, traumatic change in their lives and often don't realize the rescuers are there to help them. Some were even purposefully abandoned by their owners. Most of the incidents involve cats and dogs, of course, but there are birds, horses and other livestock too. Besides stories about animal rescues, the book also contains information on how to prepare for an emergency with your pets in mind, and how to help animals you might find in trouble.

I wrote this little bit because I remember enjoying this book when I read it, and admiring the work done by Crisp and her colleagues in its pages. I was unaware, until I began looking for other reviews to link to (and failed to find them- anyone?) that the author was fired from the animal rescue organization she worked for when she wrote it, supposedly for misuse of funds meant to help animals in Hurricane Katrina. I can't comment on that, as I just found out about it, and the information has not really colored my opinion of her book. I still think it's a good read!

Rating: 3/5 ........ 394 pages, 1996

Saturday, the Twelfth of October

by Norma Fox Mazer

I read this book first as a preteen. I think it was the first book I ever read depicting what life might have been like among prehistoric peoples, and it fired my imagination. Not only was it about prehistoric humans, but a girl from modern times is inexplicably catapulted back through the centuries to live among them. Following a harrowing incident, Alexandra ("Zan") hides herself behind a boulder in the park, feels a whirlwind around her and wakes up in a wild world of immense, vivid plants, strange creatures, and shy people who speak an unknown language and seem to melt into the forest, where they exist in harmony with nature. Bruised, terrified and confused, Zan tries desperately to follow them, finding herself clumsy and inarticulate at best. After overcoming her shock (which takes several days), she slowly manages to find acceptance in the tribe, but some of the people always see her as a foreign outsider, a threat. Zan herself comes to enjoy her life among them, while at the same time struggling to hold onto memories and knowledge from her true home. What begins as a peaceful coexistence starts to escalate into conflict until Zan begins to wonder what her future will really be like. Will she be stuck in this primeval world forever?

Saturday, the Twelfth of October is a really cool book. Highly imaginative, fluidly written. Not just an adventure story or look at life in the ancient, ancient past but also a coming-of-age story, about a girl painfully seeking her way through the ups and downs of puberty and adolescence.

I first read this time and time again at the library, but have since found my own used copy. I think it's out of print now. Has anyone else read it? Can you recommend any other books by Norma Fox Mazer? This is the only one I've ever read by her.

Rating: 4/5 ........ 247 pages, 1975

Anyone else posted about this book? I'll add your link here!