. arts and dining .
the LITERARY HILL A Compendium of Readers, Writers, Books, & Events by Karen Lyon
J
oin us on Sunday, May 3 for the first-ever VIRTUAL Literary Hill BookFest! From 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., we’ll be presenting live discussions with your favorite local authors and video readings of poetry, fiction, history, and children’s stories on our website at www.literaryhillbookfest.org. Don’t miss this opportunity to connect with our Hill literary community. But if you can’t make it live, never fear; we’ll be leaving it all up for you and your kids to enjoy for months to come.
Duke of the Hill Who wouldn’t love a dog like Duke? Sadly, somebody didn’t. At one time, he was “a nameless puppy who wasn’t treated very well,” lying in the dirt wondering when he’d get his next meal… or even a drink of water. He longed for “a home with a family that would take of me and that I could take care of.” It’s not giving anything away to reveal that Duke gets his wish. It’s right there in the subtitle of a delightful picture book by Allison McGill: “The Adventures of Duke, the Therapy Dog: Duke Finds a Home.” The sweet (and true!) story of how he’s rescued and finds his loving family is simply and movingly told by McGill, and the illustrations by John Paul Snead provide a heartwarming accompaniment. Rendered in soft pastels, they capture the
eager couple who adopted the dog as well as the many moods of Duke himself, from his dejected beginnings to his contented end, asleep and dreaming of bones with his tongue hanging out. “The Adventures of Duke, the Therapy Dog” is not only a charming book to read to children but it also helps support dogs like Duke, with 20 percent of its profits going to the Atlanta Boxer Rescue. Allison McGill is the founder of Lola & Pear Publishing (www.lolaandpear.com). Her hilarious second book, “Mommy Didn’t Say That…,” co-written with Charla Everhart and illustrated once again by John Paul Snead, will be coming out this spring. She has also been busy organizing volunteers to go grocery shopping and run errands for our at-risk neighbors during the Covid-19 crisis. If you want to help, email her at alli@thetabledc.org.
On the Trail of the Takhi
“Hello, Emergency Service for the Rescue of Endangered Species,” announces Stowe. With her cousin Wheaton listening in on speakerphone, she hears the director of a wildlife preservation project in Mongolian asking for their help. It seems a harem of endangered horses known as takhi has strayed out of the national park where they are part of a breeding and reintroduction program. If they’re not found, it would mean that their valuable genes could be lost forever. Sounds like a job for ResQ! “ResQ Takes on the Takhi” is the second in a series of novels for middle schoolers by Eva J. Pell that follows the adventures of pre-teens Stowe and Wheaton and their grandmother, wildlife photographer Ariella. Together they form ResQ, an organization committed to saving animals being threatened with extinction. The first book, “ResQ and the Baby Orangutan,” found the trio in the jungles of Borneo, battling illegal loggers A neglected boxer gets his longed-for family and animal traffickers in pursuit of baby Buddy, in “The Adventures who got lost after his mother was shot. of Duke, the Therapy Dog” by Allison McGill. This time around, the rescuers contend with
74 H HILLRAG.COM
A pair of precocious pre-teens and their grandmother help locate a harem of endangered Mongolian horses in Eva Pell’s “ResQ Takes on the Takhi.”
a blinding Mongolian snowstorm as well as wolves and frigid temperatures to locate and herd the endangered horses back to the preserve. Happily, they’re aided in their mission by a local teen who’s not only a crack horsewoman but is also happy to share her expertise on the terrain, weather, and plant and animal life of her native country. Stowe shares her newfound knowledge with readers via her logs, which touch upon everything from the dynamics of extinction to the food, culture, and language of Mongolia. Meanwhile, genius Wheaton’s improvisational engineering skills, along with his amazing inventions—including the Dynochute, which transported them there, and the Finder, which acts as a scent-seeking drone—provide an intriguing sci-fi element (and frequently save the day). All told, as Wheaton admits, “ResQ’s pretty good at finding missing animals.” To which Stowe adds her rallying cry: “Every animal counts!” Eva Pell is the former Under Secretary for Science at the Smithsonian Institution. www.evapell.com
Love, War, and Golems Poor Jason is in a bad way. Once the savior of his people, he has lost his leadership position, his mag-