Customer Comments

Bruce Bochy is a man that loves his wife, his sons and the ability to walk! He describes walks in various cities that he has been to for baseball games. Bochy comes across as a sweet, sentimental person. It is a tiny book but very big on deep thoughts on what is important in life.

Although written about the revolution of 1975 - 1979 in Cambodia as promulgated by the Khmer Rouge, the story is told from the vantage point of a child, age 7. Her views touch on atrocities but somehow the darkness of the times do not over power her struggles to survive. The little girl is descended from one of two lineages of Cambodian royalty. Her family line has not been in power for years but they are lumped with the intellectuals, educated and upper classes of the country when the revolution begins. The Khmer Rouge strove to eliminate those people; they killed between one and two million people! Her father was a poet and told her many stories that help carry her through the horrific days of those years. Her father is taken away early in the story but left her with Hope - and with a capital H. Vaddey Ratner writes so beautifully - the wind and the moon become like characters. It is just an amazingly hopeful book as love carries the little girl along. And, it is incredible that Ratner lived the story. She was five in 1975. I read that as an author she wanted to write about the intense and universal desire to live. She has succeeded and this is one of those books that I will return to for inspiration.

I came across this book at my local library, Woodland Public Library, in Woodland, California. I think it is wonderful. The poems are very accessible in that I can relate to the content without pondering the words. My kind of poetry. I am ordering one copy for me: I need to own this one so I can visit it again and again! And, I am ordering two to give away and share. Thank you to my public library for giving me this book! Imagine: it was published in 1996 but I just found it.

Anna Quindlen's story about the importance of a black labrador dog in the life of her family is so sweetly written. She writes with clarity on why dogs mean so much: their constant, non-judgmental presence through years of family changes. And, with a long life, what it is like to end the relationship. Her book helped me more than I can say. After 13 plus years with our dog, the day came when it was time for our pup to pass away. Anyone with a pet can find joy and comfort in the wisdom of her words.