Phillip Hoose

Phillip Hoose is a mighty fine writer. I have almost zero interest in birds and migratory patterns (I get bored just typing "migratory patterns"), but his excellent storytelling pulled me into this book! Hoose charts the annual journey all rufa red knots take, and it's really astounding. Most go all the way from Tierra del Fuego (the very bottom of South America) all the way to the Canadian Arctic. At the same time, the story is made more interesting by Hoose's focus on one particular red knot: B95 AKA the Moonbird. B95 is the oldest red knot known to scientists and has flown the equivalent of the distance to the moon and back. Crazy!

The other characters populating this book are the humans involved in the red knot story. Mostly they're scientists and bird enthusiasts, but Hoose also profiles a fisherman whose job is made more difficult by conservationists' efforts in Delaware.

Lots of maps and photographs help make this a really appealing non-fiction pick for readers, especially those in 5th to 8th grade. There's a section in the back about how kids can get involved in the effort to help rebuild the struggling red knot population.

And, finally, when Hoose thanks his wife as the end of the book, he writes, "It is a joy to migrate through life with her." :)… (more)

This was one of those books I received as a gift and shortly there after got packed in a box as I was moving. A number of years later now I finally got around to reading it and it was a flash back in two ways. First being the story that Hoose wrote about Don Larson and growing up on the west side of Indianapolis as a kid. He attended Speedway High School where my mother was a teacher at the same time. Not sure if he was one of her students but she taught many of the advance English courses so there was always a chance Hoose was one of her students. I met Don Larson at a Minor League 'A' game when he was there to sign autographs and make an appearance with the Salem-Kaiser (Oregon) Volcano's in the late 1990s. My Dad being a big Yankee Fan, I had Larson sign a photocard for him as a Father's Day gift. On another note, he finished this book when I was just going back into the National Guard and having just retired myself from the Guard, it put into perspective the past 18 years but even further back to my days of growing up in Indiana and playing youth sports. The book is well written and easy to read in a few days, following along that 1956 season and then to one of the best World Series between the Yankees and Brooklyn Dodgers.… (more)