“Mom! Mom! I like THIS one!”

Kimber the Magnificent here. Telling you about how I nudged Her Momness in the direction of a book that looked really good the other day. “Oh, and this one , too!” I mean, hey. Who can resist these covers? We’re talking Serious Sweet Stuff here, right? Like, Canines R Us.

So I talked Mom into grabbing two woof-worthy titles. (It wasn’t hard, if ya know what I mean.) Here’s the 4-1-1:

Brave Like That

By Lindsey Stoddard

Published by: Harper Collins, 2020

Via: Library

Pages: 256

Genre: Children’s Fiction

“Because everyone should have a shoulder they can lay their head on.”

Parker!

Cyrus Olson was just a baby when he was left on the steps of the Northfield firehouse. But growing up surrounded by heroes didn’t make Cyrus brave like his firefighter, football star adoptive dad. Or the firefighters who helped raise Cyrus. In fact, Cyrus is as skittish and scared as the stray dog who shows up at the firehouse eleven years later and parks his head on Cyrus’s shoulder and earns the apt name – Parker.

Cyrus is dying to adopt Parker. But Dad has a strict No Pets rule. So Parker goes to the Humane Society instead.

Secrets & 6th Grade

Cyrus is heartsick about this turn of events. But he has other secrets. Like, Cyrus has zero interest in playing football. His dad was a high school football star. But that’s Dad’s thing, not his. And Cyrus can’t read very well. So going into the sixth grade and the prospect of book reports has Cyrus sweating bullets. He’s also got to figure out how he’s going to “get through one more year of faking it” in school. Cuz Cyrus knows “If I’m a star at anything, I’m a star at faking.”

Cyrus is kind of an odd man out. Until he joins the “H 7” – a team of seven girls who are volunteer dog walkers with the local Humane Society.  So Cyrus gets to see Parker and take him for walks! (Kimber: See? I told you this is woof-worthy!)

A Choice

Everything’s great until Cyrus has a decision to make: football practice and dog walk days are the same day and time. So he has to choose. What is he going to tell his dad?

Cyrus soon finds out how easily one lie can turn into two. Or more. And create a wedge between people. 

Meanwhile, Grandma has had a stroke. She can’t talk anymore so she’s moved into an assisted living facility. But don’t kid yourself. Grandma is one tough cookie. She’s sharp as a tack, too. Grandma may not be able to speak. But she doesn’t miss a thing. Including Cyrus’s secrets.

Mom: Now I remember why you couldn’t pay me to do middle school again. Insert face palm here. Kimber: What’s middle school? Can I eat it?

Where were we? Oh yeah. Back to sharp as a tack Grandma. She notices something others don’t: Cyrus has trouble reading. With reading comprehension, specifically. And standing up for himself. But then the Humane Society has to move Parker to make room for more dogs, and… Oh, wait. To find out what happens next, you’ll have to read for yourself!

Astonishing

This book is astonishing. Yeah. It’s a kid’s book. But it also speaks to grown-ups and other humans. One of us – I won’t say who -had no idea where the book was going when she grabbed it off a shelf at the library. (Just shows you what Her Momness knows! What?)

Thus, it would be easy to zip through the usual mechanics of a book review here. Discuss characters, themes, basic plot and structure, writing style, etc.

And that would miss the point of Brave Like That. By about a mile and a half. Because there’s a certain pathos and punch to this book that just beggars description. (Kimber: “Beggars description.” Isn’t that a great phrase? No idea what it means. But Mom likes it. So I do, too.)

Packed

Brave Like That is poignant. Powerful. Packed with emotion. But not the contrived, brittle kind of emotion that pours out like a carton of milk that’s a week past its expiration date. Nope. This is subtle. Authentic. The Real Deal. (The jury’s still out on deep fried Oreos. You’ll get that if you read the book.)

It’s also a sensitive, tender story about family. Love. Loss. And letting go.  It’s about forgiveness and second chances. And “brave” isn’t a one-size-fits-all proposition. So what? (You’ll also get that if you read the book.)

Kimber: Mom’s doing that sniffly sparkly-eyed thing again by the last chapter. You know how some books make you do that? Brave Like That is one of them. We loved it! You will, too!

 

Our Rating: 4.5

***

 Welcome Home Mama & Boris: How a Sister’s Love Saved a Fallen Soldier’s Beloved Dogs

By Carey Neesley with Michael Levin

Published by Reader’s Digest, 2013

Genre: Nonfiction/Memoir

Pages: 216

Via: Library Book Sale! (Yippee!!)

Okay. So if ya didn’t load up on tissue for Brave Like That, we’re givin’ you a heads up for Mama & Boris. As in, Now Would Be Good. For the tissue-loading up thing. Okay?

All set? Good?

Wouldn’t Take No

This is a true story about a sister who wouldn’t take “No” for an answer when she lost her soldier brother when he was deployed in Iraq. (Kimber: I like her already! She reminds me of someone who shall remain nameless…)

When author Carey Neesley’s “big little brother” dies while serving with the U.S. Army in Baghdad, he leaves behind some stray “street dogs” he befriended, a mama dog (“Mama”, duh) and her pups. When three of the young pups die, Peter becomes committed to saving the remaining two dogs – Mama and Boris.

Two Parts

This book unfolds in two main parts. The first part of this book details the author’s close relationship with her brother, Peter. He’s two years younger. The siblings are inseparable from their earliest years, growing up together in Michigan. When Carey becomes a single mom later, Peter steps in as a father figure for his young nephew, Patrick. Then Peter enlists in the U.S. Army and is eventually deployed to Baghdad.

In the second part of the book, Peter befriends some stray street dogs. He even builds them a dog house. It’s December. Just before Christmas. Carey has finished baking Christmas cookies and other gifts and goodies. She sent them off to Peter weeks ago to make sure they arrive in time for Christmas. She includes strict instructions not to open the care package until Christmas.

Peter got the box. But he never opened it.

Instead, two members of the U.S. Army show up at Carey’s doorstep on Christmas morning to inform her that her brother, Sergeant Peter C. Neesley, died in his sleep that morning in Baghdad.

What About The Dogs?

In the midst of preparing for Peter’s memorial service later, Carey and her fam suddenly ask, “What about the dogs?” After all, Mama and Boris are “two living remnants of his (Peter’s) legacy.” 

The other guys from Peter’s unit are still in Baghdad. They’re taking care of the dogs. But their tour is winding down. Almost over. The military can’t and won’t support soldiers bringing back animals from war zones. So how will Carey get Peter’s dogs – her last connection to her brother – home?

Journey of Love

Well. What follows is quite a story. You can call the massive effort to bring these dogs to Michigan a “journey of love.” In more ways than one. In fact, it’s Mama’s and Boris’s love that helps Carey push through the pain of her brother’s death as she spends every day with these two “living tributes” to his life.

Later, Carey hears about other U.S. military members who have adopted dogs during deployment and are desperate to get their canine companions home. She steps up to the plate, putting her experience to good use “To see these men who have been through so much, have seen horrible things, and made unimaginable sacrifices, be able to take solace in these dogs is another miracle. To have them (Mama and Boris) home was Peter’s dying wish, and together, we were able to fulfill that. Mission accomplished.”

Moving Tribute

Mama and Boris is a moving and heartfelt tribute to a fallen soldier. But it’s also a tribute to hope, resilience, determination, and courage in the face of unimaginable loss. It also includes a How You Can Help section in the back listing resources and organizations who can help rescue animals our soldiers have adopted on the battlefield.

“The grassroots nature of our mission never escapes me, particularly during this part of the search. We are relying on the kindness of strangers, the randomness of connections, and the tenuous strings that hold together the world in wartime to get us through.”

We don’t necessarily agree with everything in this book. Like the author’s worldview. But we’re gonna overlook that cuz Mama and Boris is a worthwhile read. Besides. Did you catch the cover? Well. Who can resist that?

There goes Her Momness again… all sniffly and sparkly-eyed. Sheesh!

Our Rating: 4.0

What ‘Woof-Worthy’ Book(s) Have You Read Recently?