(*Spoiler at the end of this review)
I just read The Underneath a few weeks ago, by Kathi Appelt. The book has a very lyrical style, and I found it slightly distracting at first, then endearing. After awhile I didn't notice it anymore. It would be fun to read aloud to kids if I had a southern accent. The story details a friendship between a dog, a cat, and her two kittens. The plot converges with another story of an ancient magical native american family. I really enjoyed the themes of the book, which included friendship, betrayal, redemption, and the sublime. I would recommend the book to anyone who likes books where animals are the main characters. I generally don't enjoy such books, but this one was charming enough to hold my attention.
Spoiler: I thought the dog should have died in the end. I would have had more respect for the author for some inexplicable reason. It's like she didn't have the guts or heart to let him go. If I ever write my great novel, all the dogs will die. (Just kidding Mom—I really love dogs. Really I do.)
This is not an actual novel. In fact, it is just one from the occasional piles of children's princess-whatever I bring home from the library for Grace. But this one stood out. I enjoyed learning that Cinderella actually had an interest in veterinary science (hence her animal-speaking skills), and the Prince was wearing a "Save the Whales" pin, and asked her to dance because she was admiring the animal portraiture in the palace. He wanted to be a veterinarian, too, of course. This book made the classic love story so much more real and meaningful for me. I feel much closer to Cindy now.
To further recommend the book, if you turn the book over and upside down, you can read Lady Tremaine's side of the story. Compelling stuff!
This is how we look in front of the Santa Barbara mission.
This is how Henry looks when I shoot a picture over my shoulder as he sleeps on me in a back pack.
This is how Graciela looks when she is showing me the love of her life (for the day): a seashell.
This is how Henry looks when he is plotting to exercise his immune system by eating sand. 
Alex and I like to refer to the maneuver pictured above as a California pass, in which the road narrows and someone who has no business passing you revs up to max capacity and zooms past you. The diagram would be more accurate if there were a semi-truck right in front of car B and the distance between car be and semi is shorter than length of car A.
This diagram would also be more accurate if the top two vehicles were large trucks—or if there were just a truck in front of the white car, construction cones on the right, and the truck would be traveling at speed x, in which x = speed limit - 10 mph.
The day was gray and overcast. We acupunctured ourselves early against seasickness. We were in search of the largest mammal ever to have inhabited the earth (including dinosaurs).
Thar she blows! Actually, there she just sort of comes up and shows a bit of fin and then dives again! The elusive blue whale. Elusive might be the wrong word. We saw around twenty whales of the blue and humpback varieties on our little trip out from Santa Barbara to Santa Cruz Island and back.
And then, when we least expected it . . . SHARK ATTACK!! Just kidding. Dolphin attack. That doesn't have quite the same ring as shark attack. Oh well. The scientific folks with us said that one can generally count how many dolphins are in a pod by multiplying the number visible on the surface by five.
I had a real life for a week in San Luis Obispo, Morro Bay, and Santa Barbara, California. I have eaten enough fresh strawberries to last me until at least July. Now I can go back to happily doing laundry, washing dishes, and blogging until my heart is content. Hooray! 
This is not an actual novel. In fact, it is just one from the occasional piles of children's princess-whatever I bring home from the library for Grace. But this one stood out. I enjoyed learning that Cinderella actually had an interest in veterinary science (hence her animal-speaking skills), and the Prince was wearing a "Save the Whales" pin, and asked her to dance because she was admiring the animal portraiture in the palace. He wanted to be a veterinarian, too, of course. This book made the classic love story so much more real and meaningful for me. I feel much closer to Cindy now.
