{"id":5472,"date":"2010-08-10T17:28:00","date_gmt":"2010-08-10T17:28:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lbpost.com\/articles\/life\/pets\/book-review-abigail-iris-the-pet-project\/"},"modified":"2010-08-10T17:28:00","modified_gmt":"2010-08-10T17:28:00","slug":"book-review-abigail-iris-the-pet-project","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/hi-lo\/pets\/book-review-abigail-iris-the-pet-project","title":{"rendered":"Book Review: Abigail Iris: The Pet Project"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Responsibility with a spoonful of sugar and a pinch of catnip
<\/em>
Apostrophe Books<\/a> is Long Beach\u2019s newest bookstore, and it\u2019s distinguishing itself by offering regular signings by authors, local and otherwise. This Saturday, Aug. 14, they\u2019re getting as local as you can get with a signing featuring Lisa Glatt and Suzanne Greenberg, Belmont Shore resident authors and CSULB creative writing instructors. Each of the two writes for adults and coauthor the Abigail Iris series whose setting is so familiar that anyone living or shopping around Second Street\u2014the \u201cbest street in Long Beach,\u201d according to the main character\u2014may be concerned about recognizing himself or herself, but in a good way.<\/p>\n

Of course, what drew us in was the book\u2019s title and subject (not to mention that the title\u2019s one of our own subheads), so we popped in to Apostrophe and got a copy for Judy\u2019s granddaughters. We read it ourselves first, and we want you to know that this is a book worthy of being a parenting guide for pet care even if you don\u2019t have anyone to parent except yourself. And your pet.<\/p>\n

Lisa Glatt said that a friend who\u2019s big on animal rights educated her about adopting a pet instead of purchasing one, so she and co-writer Greenburg are now passing it forward. The Pet Project is not a cutie-pie happy ending tale of little girl wanting pet, little girl showing how responsible she can be by filling up every square on her chores chart on the refrigerator with stars, and little girl ultimately getting permission to take home a kitten from the litter of the outdoor cat next door. In The Pet Project, characters are likeable and believable and don\u2019t lip-synch advice from an SPCA brochure, all dogs are on leashes and their owners carry and use poop bags, and every pet in the story has been manifestly spayed or neutered, thank you.<\/p>\n

And responsibility is stressed from page 6, when 8 \u00bd-year-old Abigail Iris and her mother come across a cat rescue-adoption table at our very own Sunday Farmers\u2019 Market at Alamitos Bay Marina. Abigail Iris falls in love with a black kitten and begs her mother to let her have him for her half-birthday. After all, she says with third-grader logic, a kitten is like half a cat.<\/p>\n

Any responsible rescue would advise a parent to go home and think about it, and any responsible parent would do just that, and that\u2019s what happens. We learn that Spot\u2014Abigail Iris gives him the name from the bright orange spot on his nose\u2014is about 3 months old and had been dumped behind an Albertson\u2019s trash bin. After collecting the rescue\u2019s business card, Abigail and her mother head home via Second Street and its many outdoor caf\u00e9 tables and walkers, including a man who occasionally walks down the street with a parrot on his shoulder. Abigail Iris waits through five chapters, but both she and the reader know that Spot will have made himself at home in time for her half-birthday.<\/p>\n

But the book is only a third of the way finished when this happens. When it does, conflict arises in the form of an incurable cold blooming in the nose of Abigail Iris\u2019s older sister, Victoria. The cold turns out to be an allergy, and Abigail Iris, besotted with her pet, is brokenhearted at the thought of having to give him up. Spot\u2019s been neutered, he knows how to fetch, and Abigail Iris has composed a list of all the things she\u2019s learned about him, many of them having to do with sleeping. Furthermore, her family has signed a contract with the cat rescue group, and she\u2019s already promised Spot a forever home. \u201cMaybe Victoria can go live somewhere else,\u201d Abigail Iris says to her father.<\/p>\n

The resolution of the conflict is cleverly and wisely woven in with the supporting characters and subplots. Abigail has three friends whom she calls the Onlies, because up until now, they\u2019ve all been only children. Her \u201csilly Only friend,\u201d Rebecca, is dealing with her own family change\u2014she\u2019s about to have a new baby brother and she\u2019s not thrilled. Abigail Iris herself is not an Only\u2014she\u2019s part of a blended family, all of whom get along very well. Her oldest sibling, Eddie, is embarking on what seems like his first serious relationship with a girl that he and Abigail Iris met in a bookstore, and a boy in her class is taking notice of Abigail Iris.<\/p>\n

The most effective of the side stories are the ones that deal with pets and their issues, particularly two that deal respectively with spay\/neuter and the death of a pet. Abigail Iris\u2019s father talks about his cat, Elmer, who loved to fetch an aluminum ring and would leave it on his owner\u2019s pillow in the hope that he\u2019d wake up and toss it. Elmer became involved with an unsprayed neighborhood female. \u201cSoon, we had little Elmers all over the place,\u201d Abigail Iris\u2019s dad said. Elmer got neutered right away, and the reader learned the reason for spay\/neuter without didacticism from the authors.<\/p>\n

The impending death of the old dog who lives with Abigail Iris\u2019s half-brothers\u2019 family is a touching subplot that runs in the background in the same way that knowing that a loved pet will one day have to die. This is a lesson as important to teach a child as is responsibility, and the way this storyline was developed tells volumes about the authors and the book\u2019s honesty.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had a dog, Ginger, who died at the age of 17,\u201d Greenberg said. \u201cI thought about Ginger a lot as we worked on Bruno. It was so sad for all of us when Ginger died, maybe especially because she was so old and had been around longer than any of my children.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBefore we adopted our cats, I didn\u2019t quite understand when people talked about that sort of grief,\u201d Glatt added. \u201cI\u2019d always believed that grief was reserved for people only. Now, I see that there\u2019s animal love too, and that they\u2019re in your life day after day, night after night, and that they make their way into your heart, so that of course, when they die, you miss them with a full and big sadness.\u201d<\/p>\n

Glatt and Greenberg are looking forward to their signing, 1\u20133 p.m. at Apostrophe Books on the \u201cbest street in Long Beach.\u201d Bring the family.

Apostrophe Books is located at 4712 E. 2nd St. in Belmont Shore. Call (562) 438-7950 for information.<\/em><\/p>\n

Virtually Pets<\/span><\/p>\n

In the spirit of The Pet Project, we offer you beautiful felines rescued by the Helen Sanders Cat Protection and Welfare Society. All of these fine cats and others may be viewed on their Web site. Adoption application is available to download<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Casey<\/strong> is dreaming of a home of his own. Can you make this kitten\u2019s dreams come true?<\/p>\n

\"\"
Blanco<\/strong>, stunningly handsome, well-mannered and loving is also deaf, but his real \u201cspecial need\u201d is a loving home.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Cameo<\/strong> is striking, very unusual, with wild markings! Beautiful, fun-loving girl.<\/p>\n

Pet Projects<\/span><\/p>\n

Friends of Long Beach Animals Garage Sale Fundraiser<\/strong>, Saturday, Aug. 21
Paw through the treasures at 3762 Rose Ave. and help Friends of Long Beach Animals at the same time. Other sales will be taking place on the block. 8\u2013noon.

Foster Homes Needed<\/strong>
CatPAWS, a private rescue organization, needs foster homes for cats and kittens looking for forever homes. Click here<\/a> for information. 

Itty-bitty kitties are being born and dumped on a regular basis at our shelter. <\/p>\n

License Canvassing<\/strong>
Licensing for domestic cats as well as dogs is now mandatory and, like it or not\u2014and we know that a lot of you don\u2019t\u2014L.A. County license inspectors and ACS officers will be going door-to-door to check to see if your pets are licensed. If your pet has not been licensed, bring vaccination and altering records, and microchip ID to ACS, 7700 Spring St. in Long Beach and get him or her licensed. Cats receive free licensing until Jan. 1.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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