I mentioned the interview on Facebook and a friend commented about her own personal “Grammar Girl” in high school. I too had my own Grammar Girl in college.

English never was one of my strong subjects (come to think of it, I don’t know that I had any except skipping classes). I guess I speak English well on a basic level, but knowing the rules and making the right choices on tests always eluded me. High school English did not go well and neither did college.

Since then I have had good friends who have helped me clean up several usage errors. Learning a foreign language has been a huge benefit too. However, before I got to the point of getting help I had to take freshman English in college. Mrs. B was my tormentor teacher.

I sat on the last row to the teacher’s left. We were in alphabetical order and Penny O sat in front of me. Mrs. B allowed us to grade each other’s quizzes. We were welcome to trade papers with anyone around us. I found a sympathetic soul in Penny, so always chose to trade papers with her. I never remember Penny ever making a mistake on her quizzes. However, she almost ran out of ink each time she had to correct mine.

The fact that she never missed a question impressed me enough to soften the blow of how much work she had to do to grade my quizzes. She would turn around with a very sympathetic look on her face as if to say “Oh, you poor boy.”

Maybe I am the reason Penny became an English teacher. Perhaps she couldn’t stand the thought that there were other people in the world like me.

The first 120 pages of the story is about a teenage Indian boy (dot, not feather) who believes completely in three main religions: Christianity (Catholic), Islam and Hinduism. Pi, the main character, grew up as a zookeeper’s son. The family sold the animals and closed the zoo to move to Canada. While on the journey from India to Canada, along with some of the animals, the ship sank. The story is put to paper at a later time by a writer based on interviews with Pi and others related to the events.

The next 280 pages is about the sinking of the ship and how Pi, and his lifeboat companion Richard Parker, survived for 227 days at sea. Richard Parker was a 450 pound Bengal Tiger. There were other companions on the lifeboat, but they either died, were killed or drowned before too many days had passed in the lifeboat.

One of my favorite parts of the book is when Pi goes into a nine step process as to how you, the reader, should go about taming the wild animal (i.e., tiger, rhinoceros or wild boar) in the boat with you. It is funny in that I hope to never find myself in need of such information, but he describes it with the passion and factuality that any 16 year old would bring to something so serious.

As stated earlier, the book pulled me along when it finally got interesting. But that did not happen until after page 120 (in my edition of the book). The book is broken into three parts. If you take my second paragraph above as a summary of the first section of the book you can save yourself all the boring parts and not enjoy the book any less. But you are going to read it anyway, aren’t you? Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

While I can’t say that it was the most thrilling or immersive book I have ever read, it was very hard to put down towards the end.

I have heard many good reviews of the book and have to agree that it is well written and will probably become a classic. But, like most classics, unless you struggle to get very far into the book, you will probably put it away disappointed that you didn’t see what everyone else saw in the work. If you are struggling to get into the book from the start just take my advice and skip to part two and prepare yourself for a great story.

Life of Pi, Yann Martel. Mariner Books. 2003. 326 pages (in the linked edition, mine was 401 pages).

I read Freakonomics a couple of years ago and was eager to get my hands on the new book, SuperFreakonomics. I managed to snag a copy at a Walden Books (RIP) that was closing in Chicago a few months ago. This book was a touch edgier than the first one, which was a bit out of my comfort zone to begin with. The first book spent quite a bit of time talking about drug dealers while this one gave the inside scoop on prostitution.

The subtitle of the book is: Global cooling, patriotic prostitutes, and why suicide bombers should buy life insurance. With a subtitle like that you can imagine my heart skipped a beat when I got stopped by airport security to have my bag full of books inspected one by one. Fortunately the “SUICIDE BOMBERS” phrase did not catch their attention.

The premise of the book is to show how that not every conclusion is as simple as seeing a few facts and making assumptions. The first book was subtitled A rogue economist explores the hidden side of everything and gives you an idea that the purpose of these books is not really to solve any specific problem, but to let you know that sometimes there is much more to an issue than what you might first conclude. Some of the topics discussed in the book I imagine are, or will be, subjects of much discussion since the authors contradict conventional wisdom and popular myths in several areas. One of the controversial topics I hoped would be in the book was the subject of a TED Talk that one of the authors, Steven Levitt, gave a couple of years ago. He shows the power of scare tactics and powerful lobbyists. In that talk Levitt goes against what we “know is true” about the effectiveness of car seats compared to seat belts.

I enjoyed the book, but I have to say it is not for sensitive eyes. I had to make sure no one was reading over my shoulders at different points in the book. It is quite graphic in some areas. I don’t know if I can say it is a must read, but I did like many of his conclusions.

SuperFreakonomics, Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner. William Morrow Publishing. 288 pages. 2009.

Wanna Trade?
I am offering this book to anyone who wants to send me a good book. This is an experiment to see how long it takes to send a book from Argentina to wherever you are and vice versa. Leave a comment with what you have to offer in trade.

I knew my friend Garvin Dykes had been working on a book, and was excited to see him mention that it was available for the Kindle. I purchased it that day and started reading it on my iPhone.

I don’t read much fiction, so I surprised even myself as to how fascinated I was with the story of Sunday’s Child. It only took me 2 days to consume the book.

The story involves a college student in the south who meets a girl during his first few days at school. She is from the Middle East and is Muslim. The boy is a Christian, but tries to be a friend to the girl and help her feel comfortable in her new surroundings. The book is set in the early 80s and goes through the early 90s. The plot involves their growing relationship through the time when radical Islamic terrorists begin to attack the United States.

Besides being from two very different cultures geographically, they are also religiously very different. They seek to work through their differences.

As I read the first few pages I thought the book was going to spend more time on separating Christianity from Patriotism. While I love my country, I often feel that American Christians think their Christianity and love of country go hand in hand. When someone culturally worships the Lord in a different manner, they fall back on thinking that it is because the person is not a mature Christian. However, the book did not deal with that aspect of Christianity.

What I did learn from the book is a perspective of all the stories I heard in the news through my teenage years. All the conflict with Iran, Iraq, PLO and the fight for the land that Israel occupies makes more sense to me after reading this book. My school principal would share the news with us about what was going on over there, but it seemed so far away from me at the time. Of course we are still involved in the same conflicts today in that region as we were back in the 80s. Through this book I now understand where it started and how it developed.

I am not sure if the Kindle version is different from the printed version, but I did find several inconsistencies in the storyline. Apparently the author and editor made some last minute changes to the military rank of the hero in the story. He is a Lieutenant, then Capitan (then Lieutenant again) and twice he was called Major even though he only advanced to Capitan in the story. The printed version may have those inconsistencies cleared up.

The author told me these are “developing characters.” I take that to mean he has another book planned to follow this one. He mentions in the introduction that the story started forming with him as he was stuck in Africa during the September 11, 2001 attack on the US. Since this story ended in the early 90s, then there must be more to take us up to at least to 2001. I look forward to it.

It was refreshing to read a book that had no cursing. Since the author is a long time conservative preacher I expected nothing less. However, I did not even really notice that it was missing until I sat down to write this. More proof that a good story–even involving the military–can be told without stooping to filthy language.

Sunday’s Child. Garvin Dykes. Tate Publishing. 2010. 296 pages.

While I tend to agree with many pastors that business books can be dangerous when you try to apply the principles of running a corporation to a church, I also think that there are many good things we can glean from reading books that make businesses successful. This book is not so much a business book as it is about communication; regardless of the work environment.

The authors, brothers Chip and Dan Heath, have isolated 6 principles that help make an idea ‘sticky.’ What I loved about the way they explained the principles is they used urban legends as many of their examples. There are reasons that urban legends get passed around and tend to stick no matter how much information is on the web to the contrary. If you could communicate real ideas, stories and principles in a way that cause them to stick like an urban legend, then you would get your message across. The book is filled with real examples as well.

In Made to Stick you will find the 6 principles and examples illustrating those ideas. Not every sticky idea will contain all 6, but the more you can communicate using the 6 principles, the stickier your communication will be.

What are the principles? Simple, Unexpected, Concrete, Credible, Emotional and Story. SUCCESs is used as the trigger to help you remember these principles.

Simple: Find the core of what you want to communicate. This has to do with the idea you want to share more than the way you share it. Sometimes an elaborate story can get the message across in a more sticky way than just sharing the core. Therefore, Simple is about the message, not necessarily the way it is delivered.

Unexpected: At the end of the story did you expect that the person was going to wake up in an ice-filled tub having had his kidney’s stolen? Giving examples of how you want your sales staff to meet the customer’s needs is much more sticky than saying, “Take care of the customer.”

Concrete: Help your audience work through the thought process instead of just teaching them the bottom line. An example is how students learn math better when they think through adding members to make up a baseball team as opposed to just telling the students that 3+6=9.

Credible: Being credible is not just being able to spout off statistics that no one will remember. Credibility can come through showing an example of a person going through a similar problem and how they are dealing with it. Better yet, have that person become your spokesperson. Real people dealing with real issues.

Emotion: Help people see themselves either experiencing the problem or being a solution to the problem. Instead of asking the crowd to give money to support all the missionaries in South America, I should help you understand that if you support my ministry in Argentina I will be able to share the Gospel of Christ with a deaf boy in La Plata who may never have another person love him enough to teach him the Bible. By sending $50 a month you can help my family do just that.

Story: Take any opportunity you have to illustrate with a story as opposed to just giving the facts. In the book they say that the story and the moral are both important. However, if you just tell the story the listener can figure out the moral. But if you only have the moral (the facts) then the listener has no clear understanding of what the moral means nor a good way to remember it.

I have to say that this is probably THE BEST BOOK I have read in a long time. While I borrowed this copy from the local library, I will be on the lookout for a copy of my own. This is a book that I could easily read several more times and go back and reference often in the future. I think it is a great book for missionaries and pastors as well as anyone who needs to communicate a message.

Made to Stick. Chip and Dan Heath. Random House, 2007. 291 pages.

I got a chance to chat with Mr. Beardsley at length. He was signing books and chatting with the crowd. Because I was a volunteer there I was able to catch him when there was no one around. I really enjoyed my 10 minute conversation with him. I bought the book he wrote several years ago titled Staying The Course: A Runner’s Toughest Race.

Staying The Course is an autobiography of his running career and his involvement with and recovery from addictions. The first half of the book takes the reader through that famous Boston Marathon while the second half leads you through his spiral into substance abuse. Unlike Duel in the Sun though, this book has a much more satisfying conclusion. While Dick Beardsley’s story is not yet over, this book concludes with an air of certainty of where his life is headed. At the end of Duel in the Sun I was not sure that Beardsley had gotten in control of his addictions. Staying the Course removes my doubts.

If you ever get a chance to meet Dick Beardsley you will find that he really is as upbeat and positive as his book portrays him to be.

As I was reading the book I was struck by how much I enjoyed reading a man brag about his accomplishments. Of course he has to tell about what has taken place in his life, but you don’t feel like he is bragging. The man makes his living by going to races and talking about himself. He has learned how to talk about himself so that the audience does not feel he is being braggadocios. Therefore his memoir is readable and not boastful.

The writing style did not flow very well at times. Some passages had to be read over to understand what was being said. However, when I was reading those same passages out loud to the family, they seemed to make more sense. I think some of the writing was probably just a transcription of speeches he has given. It sounds good to the ears, but sometimes hard to read for the eyes and brain. People talk about being conversational in your writing style; this book may be a bit too conversational.

The book contains some swearing, which was a big reason I did not like Duel in the Sun and considered taking it back to the store. But the amount of foul language in this book was minimal. And, unlike Duel in the Sun, it was limited to direct quotes.

I highly recommend this book. My opinion of the book may be skewed because I have met the author and had a good experience with him, but that is part of the “Dick Beardsley Package.” How could I have a bad opinion of the man who indulged me enough to sign my New Balance running shoes?

Staying The Course by Dick Beardsley. 2002. University of Minnesota Press. 203 pages.

Running
My goal was to run 1000 miles again in 2009 like the goal was for 2008. I missed it both years. 2009 was thwarted by starting the year with a stress fracture in my left foot. I was able to recover and was doing well by the middle of the year. However when I ramped up my mileage for marathon training in August, I went too far too soon. I had taken the first half of the year too easy and the longer miles caused another stress fracture in the left foot by the end of September. That slowed me down once again.

It was a learning year. I now know to respect the 10% rule a bit more (10% rule=no more than 10% more miles from week to week or month to month). I did not train for any half marathons in 2009. I went from no specific training goals to marathon ambitions thinking that I was physically as strong as I was the year before. I take more experience and wisdom into 2010 because of this.

I also had a goal of 2 half marathons and a full. Since I was injured I scrapped the half marathon plans and just went for the full. That was a mistake. I also planned to set a 5K PR. I only ran one this year and it was on an injured foot, so I did not even try to race it. Only enjoy the experience.

Total mileage for 2009 was 525 miles in 138 runs. That means I averaged a run every2 to 3 days (once every 2.6 days). Which means I ran fairly consistently, but my average run was fewer than 4 miles.

Reading
The goal was to read at least 800 pages a month and not have any month drop below that number. I did not do too poorly on that goal. I struggled a couple of months, but most months I exceeded the goal. Starting in August I somehow fell off the bandwagon of keeping track of my books and pages read. October through December I read so many books that I just had trouble remembering which ones I read to even write them down. If I missed any 800 page months I probably made up for it in those three months. In a 2 week stretch in December I know I read more than 900 pages. I need to do a better job of keeping records this year.

2010?
I am still working on my 2010 goals. I will try to get something written down and shared here in a few days.

The book’s premise is that a good spiritual leader will smell like his flock just as any shepherd would smell like the sheep he is pastoring. In fact, the sheep would probably just see the shepherd as one of their own who happens to be able to walk on two feet and protect them from danger.

It was a well outlined book and would make a great text to teach from for church leadership.

The book did not focus on just pastors either. It was about leadership in the church at any level. He even made the point that a church leader could possibly be someone who has not had any official authority appointed to him. If one will simply find an area in which to serve others he can be a spiritual leader.

My favorite quote from the book went something like this “We need to follow Jesus’ leadership style. He recruited 12, graduated 11 and focused on 3.” I really like that attitude. While some people may be able to effectively “pastor” 50 or 100 people, it is fine to put a greater effort into a few.

My one caveat about the book is the way he handles the last couple of chapters. He goes through some detailed word studies in the final pages. I loved his conclusions, but have great reservations about his process. He details how that some words in the Bible are interpreted wrongly by pastors and leaders, but in so doing questions the translation of God’s Word into our language. It would be easy for a reader to fall into the trap of wondering if we really do have the Word of God preserved for us today, or if every word in our translations have to be scrutinized for their accuracy.

I do not at all think that the author is claiming that we can’t know what God’s Word is, but I think he leads the reader down a dangerous path with the way he questions translations.

Though that is a strong warning, I really enjoyed the book and think it is spot on to where we need to be as church leaders. I also agree with his conclusions on how God’s Word has been interpreted incorrectly by many in the past.

They Smell Like Sheep: Spiritual Leadership for the 21st Century, Lynn Anderson, 248 pages, Howard Books, 2002.

The book is about running. It is presented by sharing a story involving an indigenous Mexican tribe in the Copper Canyon that is made up of extremely gifted athletes. The point was that we can learn their secrets and become better runners as well. The use of a great narrative made a potentially dull book about putting one foot in front of the other much more interesting.

I did not read the book, but rather listened to the audio-book version while I was driving around in Atlanta a couple of weeks ago. I have to admit that I was very engrossed in the story. I did not have any close calls by not paying attention, but I did get wrapped up in it a couple of times enough to have to wipe the tears away when certain events were portrayed. Even though I already knew the outcome of some of the races that were described in the book, I was still on the edge of my seat waiting to hear how it would unfold.

My standard disclaimer has to be said here though. I cannot really recommend this book for young people. The language in it was appalling. As I have said before, I know people really talk like that, but that does not mean I want to read (or listen to) all the foul language.

Well written book, but I cannot give it a full recommendation because of the language.

Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen, 2009. Christopher McDougall, Knopf publishing. 304 pages.

If you have not read The Shack it might be quite shocking to you. Give the book an honest read, even if you have to be critical the whole way. In a nutshell the book talks about having a real and personal relationship with God. While I have some problems with the theology in the book, the concept of seeing God as a real friend who can help individuals on a personal basis is well presented. Do I believe God interacts with us in the way the book depicts? No, I don’t think He does. Could He? Sure He could.

Apparently the book has been quite controversial. I have intentionally not looked into some of the criticisms of the book. I chose to read it as a fiction book and not put any stock in its theology. I do see it as a great concept of how God wants to have a personal relationship with us. Furthermore, I believe that He can be as personal as the book presents.

The book came highly recommended by a few friends. It certainly was well written. I don’t know if I could give a general recommendation of the book to everyone. I think some people are mature enough to see it for what I believe it is–an encouraging way to show God’s desire to have a relationship with man. However, some of my friends would not see it is such and therefore would probably not benefit from reading it.

The Shack, William Paul Young, Windblown Media, 2008, 256 pages.

The first thing that caught my attention was its format. It is a small book. While it is hardback, the format was more like a trade paperback size. At fewer than 160 pages, it is also very quick to read. The second interesting thing about the book is that there are no chapters. I love reading books with lots of chapters. The shorter the chapter, the more I enjoy the book. I like to read a chapter in each sitting if possible. This book was even better. Instead of chapters he just had sections that ran together only separated by a bold section title. Some sections were a couple of pages while others were only one paragraph. Most were somewhere between the two.

The concept behind a tribe is that you, as an individual, can gather/motivate/assemble a group of people with a common interest and lead them to accomplish a task. While you are a leader you will not have to be the one doing the work if your tribe has people with common interest and goals. They will be just as motivated to get the job done as you are. You, as the leader, may not need to do anything more than be the person that causes the tribe to assemble in the first place.

Godin is a philosopher. This book was not so much about the tools that make tribes work. Rather, it explained why tribes work and gave a set of principles to help you understand the concept of them. By doing so you can make a tribe work in your favor with many different tools. He gave specific examples using tools available today, but with the principles of the book you could make a tribe effective for you even if these tools don’t exist 5 years into the future.

A tribe does not have to be led from a position of authority. A person in the mail room of a company can see something that needs to be done and assemble like minded people to accomplish the task. You don’t have to be the boss to be a leader. He does not think that everyone needs to have a tribe assembled around them. But, if you do have a desire to lead, you can. Right now. You don’t have to wait until you have the authority to be a leader. Be one where you are today.

Why is this book popular? I think it taps into the reason social media is such a hit today. As a podcaster one can become a leader of a tribe. Bloggers can lead their own tribe. Twitter and Facebook allow us to assemble our friends and share information that may help us accomplish a task. You don’t have to be the leader of a tribe of 400 people. If you can gather 5 like-minded people around you then you can lead a tribe and accomplish a task.

As a missionary this is a great concept. My goal is one that is shared by millions of people around the world. We want to get the story of Jesus Christ to the masses. However, I can’t reach everyone. I also can’t motivate every church member to pray for me and my ministry. But, if I can inspire 3 people in each church to take a personal interest in my ministry and to connect with others who share the same goal, then I can lead a tribe that will uphold my ministry in prayer. What missionary doesn’t want that?

It is definitely a philosophical book. Some people are going to read this and not get it. They want to follow a formula. There is none presented in the book. But if you can wrap your brain around the concepts of the book you will be well on your way to leading your small group of people. Or, 6 groups of people for different purposes.

It is a book about leadership that I can highly recommend.

Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us, Seth Godin, Portfolio Hardcover, 2008, 160 pages.

The book is titled Mentoring and Modeling: Developing the Next Generation by Dr. Mark Rasmussen and Dr. John Goetsch. I am not sure exactly how I would define mentoring, so I had no prejudice as to what the book should contain.

Not until I got 2/3 rds. of the way through the book did I start to understand what the authors meant by that word. Their definition could easily be called “a good teacher.”

I thought the book was well written. It was very practical towards the end of the book. They moved from theoretical teaching to practical application. It was in the practical application section of the book that it became clear as to what was meant by being a mentor. They gave great tips on how a teacher could change their attitude and actions in the classroom to help their students move forward.

There were a couple of things I did not like about the book, both of which could probably be helped by having a professional editor look over the material. There seemed to be an inconsistency in the layout of the book. Sometimes the authors had some long quotes that apparently were supposed to be block quotes in the book. They ended up just being paragraphs that looked like the authors’ own words. It was hard to know where the quote ended and the writers were speaking again.

The book lacked the chapter titles at the top of the pages. While this is certainly not necessary, it is helpful in a book like this. The chapters dealt with specific principles. Looking up at the top of the page to get a reminder of which principle you are studying each time you picked up the book would have been helpful.

I was impressed with the authors’ general style. As I said, I knew Dr. Goetsch several years ago, but had never read anything by him. He (along with Dr. Rasmussen) is a great writer.

The book itself had some good reminders for teachers on how to engage their students and pull them into the lesson. It also talked about how teachers should look for teaching moments. With practise these moments can be found all around you.

This was definitely a book for teachers. I read the book because it was offered to me, but if I had picked it up looking for tips on being a good mentor, I am not sure I would have found what I was looking for. While I agree that teachers should be mentors, this book seemed to be specifically for teachers in a classroom. I don’t have a clear definition in my head as to what I think a mentor should be, but certainly a mentor is not limited to 4 walls and a chalkboard.

I have started to see the difference between books that go through a large publishing company and one that is put together by a smaller outfit. If this had been run through a larger organization it probably would have something about teachers in the title and the formatting would have been more consistent. In the notes I wrote about the book as I read it, I jotted this down: Well written, poorly presented. I don’t think I can improve on that simple statement for this book.

Dr. Goetsch is a great preacher and writer. I look forward to reading more of his work in the future. I just hope that the production quality improves.

Mentoring and Modeling, Dr. Mark Rasmussen and Dr. John Goetsch, Revival Books, 2000, 192 pages.

Riding Outside the Lines is a book of stories during his international travels on the bike. As I have said in my other two reviews about his books, he is a great writer. For that, I know I have benefited from reading his work.

Once I got into the book I had trouble putting it down. He is such a compelling author that even though I very much disliked the contents in this book, I still could not bring myself to walk away from it. I had moral conflicts with just about every story. The level of cursing in this book was much more than appropriate. There were many references to marital relationships that took place outside of marriage. Many of the things he talks about in this book are things that I know take place in the world, but I would rather not fill my mind with. Most every story went against how I am attempting to raise my family.

I cannot recommend this book.

When Joe Kurmaskie puts out another book I will eagerly find myself a copy of it. His style of writing is fresh and enjoyable. I would not call it easy though. While he pulls you along in the story he also makes you think about his words and references. You can tell he spends plenty of time reading other great authors as he make allusions to many works of literature.

Try again Joe. I know you will sell many books. But this one I have to suggest that people skip.

Riding Outside the Lines, Joe Kurmaskie, Three Rivers Press, New York, 2003, 254 pages.

The goal is to run 1000 miles for the year which means 83.3 miles a month or 19.2 miles a week. In February I ran 66 miles with 2 weeks of hitting my goal. I should be able to make up the lost miles by the end of the year if I stay healthy.

Reading
My goal is 800 pages a month and I read 869.

The only significant book I read was The World is Flat. An interesting book on understanding how the global job market and economy are changing.

The book is about the heartaches and victories that Rex’s mom experienced while trying to raise and train Rex up to this point in his life. He was born with a growth in his brain that caused blindness and autism. At 2 years old he was given a piano keyboard that became the magical door to open his mind to the outside world. He has grown to be a musical savant.

That is the part of the story I already knew. What I did not know about was the struggles that Rex’s mom had to endure to deal with his limitations on a practical level as a single mom. Also about the battles she faced just getting him into school and keeping him there.

As someone who has worked with the Deaf I have seen these same types of conflicts play out in the lives of many parents. There is always the feeling that, as a parent, you might have done something different to change the outcome. Or that you should have done more (or less) along the way to help, protect, guide or encourage your child in their development.

Ms. Lewis is careful to praise good teachers and scold bad ones. Some of the stories she tells in the book remind me of what took place in the early days of special education where the special ed teachers were not properly trained for the individual need, but were just teachers pulled from the standard classrooms to fill a position. However, this is not a story of a boy growing up blind in the 1950s, it is a story of a boy who is currently in the system. Some of these stories happened within the last couple of years.

The writing seemed a little flowery at the front of the book. It took me about 60 pages to “get into” the story. I don’t know if the writing got better or that I was finally drawn into the emotion of what was taking place, but it was certainly easier to read. By the time I hit half way through the book I had trouble putting it down.

This book is published by Thomas Nelson. Thomas Nelson is a Christian publishing house. I expect that their books would have a clear religious bent. I finished the book wondering whether Rex’s mom really has a relationship with Christ, or just found psychological comfort in going to church.

It is a good book if you are looking for an emotional story. I feel like I know Rex in a small way. I am very excited about following him as he grows up.

Rex, Thomas Nelson, 2008, 242 pages.