Children's book Review

Kali Leads the Way
by Nancy West
ISBN-10: 0978672208
Review by Heather Froeschl

Where danger lies, heroes lead the way. Sometimes those heroes are dedicated animals. In "Kali Leads the Way" by Nancy West, readers are introduced to one hero with four paws in the land mine strewn countryside of Cambodia.

Kali is a young Labrador Retriever in training to be a humanitarian mine detection dog. Her job is to use her keen sense of smell to detect buried land mines. Her challenge is to overcome her non-work related curiosity. Kali is distracted by butterflies and her trainer decides that she is not yet ready for work. She soon proves herself when her companion work dogs fail to find something that she spots easily...a live mine near the training site. When the monsoon season arrives in Cambodia the other dogs are brought to a nearby city to wait it out. The dogs cannot work in the heavy rain. Kali remains with her trainer to watch over the training grounds. One night, after many rain soaked days, the clouds clear and a knock is heard at the door. A man carries his young son, desperately in need of medical care, and hopes that Kali can lead them over the mountain to the city. Kali is able to focus on her work, and ignore temptation, but will she safely guide the group around a buried mine and the other dangers that lurk in the forest?

This beautifully illustrated book shows the dedicated service dogs like Kali provide. It also gently explains what land mines are and the dangers that farmers and others face having to live with this very real unknown threat. Educators looking to introduce this sad product of war will find this book to be a perfect blend of fact and hopeful outlook. Information on what can be done about land mines is provided at the back of the book.

Nancy West takes a tragic situation and turns it into something we can all hope for. Showing the growth of the dog's sense of duty puts the developing hero in a relatable light. Children will cheer her on as she ignores the monkeys and sticks to her task. Adult readers will be touched by the sense of need and desire for help. Kali is leading the world in showing compassion and taking control, and that's just what we all need more of. Well done!

Non-Fiction Review

Khanteya: My Courageous Quest for Love and Freedom
by Julietta Khanteya Thong
ISBN-10: 0595391052
Review by Heather Froeschl

What makes an American Dream? To be successful, happy and healthy? It may be different things to different people, but Julietta Khanteya Thong has proved an American Dream is possible. In her book "Khanteya: My Courageous Quest" she tells the world how she struggled and overcame many obstacles to make it to where she is today.

Khanteya's family endured impossibilities during the Cambodian Communist take over that began on April 17, 1975. They were forced to leave their home, and in fear for their lives became fugitives in their own land. Disguised as farmers, they existed, only barely, until they were able to flee into Thailand. Along the way, the family was split up, put into concentration camps, forced into slave labor, reunited, and ultimately regrouped in a refugee camp run by the United Nations, Khao-I-Dang. There, Khanteya volunteered in a hospital, caring for newborn babies and their mothers. There she met Dr. Rene, and began to understand love. Her teen years were "lived" on the run, in grave danger. Life began again when the family was sponsored to come to the United States.

This touching story is all the more real for me because I was once friends with a young many named Chen Pret, an immigrant to the US, from the terror of Cambodia's take over. The honesty and openness of Khanteya's story makes it personable and at the same time all the more real. This part of the world's history is not something that everyone knows about, but should! Her inspirational tale of her success in America is a testament to perseverance and dedication. Khanteya is an admirable woman and her story is one you won't forget.