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Fans of the National Geographic Channel's The Dog Whisperer with Cesar Millan will be grateful for Cesar's Way, an accessible guide to help new and current dog owners better understand the needs of their beloved pets. If you are not yet a fan, try to catch a couple of episodes of the remarkable show--you will be amazed, impressed, and motivated to create a healthier, more fulfilling relationship with your dog. In Cesar's Way, Cesar explains that dogs are not complicated, and despite what various owners think--not human. They rely on three key elements in their lives: exercise, discipline, and affection (in that order). "Problem dogs" can be attributed to "problem owners," owners who don't understand and misinterpret their dog's behavior. Cesar's Way is really a training program for dog owners, with chapters devoted to understanding the "power of the pack," taking responsibility for "how we screw up our dogs," and learning how to manage aggression. Cesar's book (a must-have for new and old dog owners) moves beyond basic obedience school techniques, and teaches owners how to change unwanted behavior by better understanding their "best friends."
--Daphne Durham

Book Description
“I rehabilitate dogs. I train people.” —Cesar Millan

There are at least 68 million dogs in America, and their owners lavish billions of dollars on them every year. So why do so many pampered pets have problems? In this definitive and accessible guide, Cesar Millan—star of National Geographic Channel’s hit show Dog Whisperer with Cesar Millan—reveals what dogs truly need to live a happy and fulfilled life.

From his appearances on The Oprah Winfrey Show to his roster of celebrity clients to his reality television series, Cesar Millan is America’s most sought-after dog-behavior expert. But Cesar is not a trainer in the traditional sense—his expertise lies in his unique ability to comprehend dog psychology. Tracing his own amazing journey from a clay-walled farm in Mexico to the celebrity palaces of Los Angeles, Cesar recounts how he learned what makes dogs tick. In Cesar’s Way, he shares this wisdom, laying the groundwork for you to have stronger, more satisfying relationships with your canine companions.

Cesar’s formula for a contented and balanced dog seems impossibly simple: exercise, discipline, and affection, in that order. Taking readers through the basics of dog psychology and behavior, Cesar shares the inside details of some of his most fascinating cases, using them to illustrate how common behavior issues develop and, more important, how they can be corrected.

Whether you’re having issues with your dog or just want to make a good bond even stronger, this book will give you a deeper appreciation of how your dog sees the world, and it will help make your relationship with your beloved pet a richer and more rewarding one.

Learn what goes on inside your dog’s mind and develop a positive, fulfilling relationship with your best friend

In Cesar’s Way, Cesar Millan—nationally recognized dog expert and star of National Geographic Channel’s hit show Dog Whisperer with Cesar Millan—helps you see the world through the eyes of your dog so you can finally eliminate problem behaviors. You’ll learn:

Filled with fascinating anecdotes about Cesar’s longtime clients, and including forewords by the president of the International Association of Canine Professionals and Jada Pinkett Smith, this is the only book you’ll need to forge a new, more rewarding connection with your four-legged companion.

Also available at Rylander as a Random House AudioBook

From Publishers Weekly
Joyce Carol Oates's gripping third suspense novel under her Kelly pseudonym (after 2005's The Stolen Heart) explores twisted love. Shy, insecure teenager Annemarie Straube becomes the object of intense scrutiny when she's discovered half-clothed and drugged, wandering through the woods. She and her aunt, Drewe Hildebrand, were apparently abducted by fundamentalist Christians who vandalized the older woman's Hudson River estate. Under police questioning, Annemarie has only fragmentary memories of the attack and of being force-fed a powder later determined to be crystal meth. Through flashbacks, Kelly portrays the odd relationship between Annemarie and Drewe and the bizarre assortment of cutting-edge artists who were part of their circle and who eventually emerge as the main suspects in the kidnapping. Since the heroine is the very definition of the proverbial unreliable narrator, piecing together subtle psychological clues to discover the truth will challenge most readers. Fans of Minette Walters and Ruth Rendell will be well pleased. (May)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
Presumably, Joyce Carol Oates uses pseudonyms to distinguish her suspense novels from her literary works, although her identity is always revealed when she writes as Rosamond Smith or Lauren Kelly. And while this is designated as a novel of suspense, it is an archetypal Oatesian tale narrated by a lonely and depressed young woman of straitened circumstances and hidden strengths uncomfortable with her sexuality and enthralled by an unsavory mentor. Drewe Hildebrand--chic, wealthy, and reckless--runs an artists' colony not far from the old Hudson River town of Newburgh that impresses New York City sophisticates and scandalizes the conservative locals. Drewe has taken charge of her destitute niece, Annemarie, renaming her Marta and attempting to transform this shy and balky teen into a sexy sidekick, seemingly with deviant intent. Certainly, there is menace in the air when Drewe takes up with a sculptor who creates such ghoulish works as a bust of Drewe covered in her own blood. After a near-riot breaks out at the opening of an exhibit of his grotesque creations, Drewe disappears and Marta is beaten and forced to consume a nearly lethal dose of crystal meth. Ultimately, the suspense is more intellectual than visceral in this fleet-footed, culturally astute, and teasingly ambiguous tale about sexual power, women and body image, class divisions, contemporary art and the rejection of beauty, and the nexus of the sacred and the profane. Oates by any other name is still Oates: smart, canny, haunted, and compelling.
Donna Seaman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

From School Library Journal
PreSchool-Grade 2–Reading this story is like having a romp with the funniest dog in town. As the book opens, two lines of text (Good morning, Fergus!/Want to go out?) frame the irrepressible face of a furry white terrier, black button eyes glistening with excitement. Subsequent pages feature the pups adventures chasing cats and motorbikes, scratching and being scratched, playing in the dirt, begging for meatballs, and riding in the car. No matter what the animal does, his masters refrain is…you guessed it. Readers see everything from a terrier-sized perspective, and they rarely see anyone but Fergus. When he is trampling his owner to request a walk, they catch just a glimpse of a human face. The motorcyclists face is so covered with gear as to be generic. The more intimate portraits here are of things of interest to Fergus–spaghetti and meatballs, for example, or the whipped cream that he likes on his kibble. Shannons artwork is like an overstuffed sofa: colorful, homey, and bouncy. A riotous book to unleash on all readers–even those who own cats.
–Susan Weitz, formerly at Spencer-Van Etten School District, Spencer, NY
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
K-Gr. 2. Fergus is a West Highland terrier, sort of an antihero to Rosemary Well's doggie, McDuff. He goes wild when he sees a cat, won't come when he's called, eats the daisies, and puddles in the wrong places. Of course, he's not entirely to blame; his unseen master is the sort who tells him not to beg, then slips him a tidbit, and puts whipped cream in his food bowl after the original offering gets only a disdainful sniff. This book is all about the impressive, oversize visuals--pictures that show the adorable doggie in full canine-caper mode: leaping, chasing, digging, not rolling over on command. And the expressions on Fergus' face perfectly mirror those of many pets who have the innocent look down pat: "Who me?" However, the best audience for this will be children old enough (or experienced enough with dogs) to catch the humor. Fergus has made cameo appearances in other Shannon books. Come to think of it, maybe he's not so much a counterpoint to McDuff as he is Shannon's David in fur.
Ilene Cooper
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

From School Library Journal
Grade 9 Up-When 15-year-old Craig Gilner is accepted by a prestigious Manhattan high school, the pressure becomes taxing, and he finds himself battling depression. Partying and drugs don't help. As his illness intensifies, he is aided by his supportive family and perceptive therapist. A prescription for Zoloft improves things, until Craig decides that he is better and stops taking it. In a revitalized state of depression, he calls a suicide-prevention hotline and then checks into a hospital, where the only space available is in the adult psychiatric wing. There, he receives the help he needs, discovers his hidden artistic talents, and connects with the quirky patients who have plenty of problems of their own, including Noelle, a girl his own age. Craig's well-paced narrative, carefully and insightfully detailing his confusing slide and his desperate efforts to get well, is filled with humor and pathos. His thoughts reveal a sensitive teen unsure about sex, friendships, himself, and his future. An almost unbelievable amount of self-realization, including his first two romantic encounters, occurs in the whirlwind five-day hospital stay. However, the book ends on a note of hope, despite Craig's unwise anticipation of a relationship with Noelle. This novel will appeal to readers drawn to Brent Runyon's The Burn Journals (Knopf, 2004), which is another powerful but more extreme look at a likable teen returning from the brink of suicide.
Diane P. Tuccillo, City of Mesa Library, AZ
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
*Starred Review* Gr. 9-12. When Craig Gilner gets into Manhattan's exclusive Executive Pre-Professional High School, it's the culmination of a year of intense focus and grinding hard work. Now he has to actually attend the school with other equally high-performing students. Oops. And so the unraveling begins, with a depressed Craig spending more time smoking dope and throwing up than studying. Although medication helps his depression, he decides to stop taking it. Soon after, he makes another decision: to commit suicide. A call to a suicide hotline gets him into a psychiatric hospital, where he is finally able to face his demons. Readers must suspend their disbelief big time for this to work. Because the teen psych ward is undergoing renovations, Craig is put in with adults, which provides the narrative with an eccentric cast of characters rather than just similarly screwed-up teens. And in his five days in the hospital, Craig manages to cure his eating disorder, find a girlfriend, realize he wants to be an artist, and solve many of his co-residents' problems, including locating Egyptian music for his roommate, who won't get out of bed. What could he do if he wasn't depressed! But what's terrific about the book is Craig's voice--intimate, real, funny, ironic, and one kids will come closer to hear. Many readers will be familiar with the drugs, the sexual experimentation, the language, and, yes, the depression--or they'll know someone who is. This book offers hope in a package that readers will find enticing, and that's the gift it offers.
Ilene Cooper
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

From Publishers Weekly
New York Times writer Drape (The Race for the Triple Crown) illuminates a little-known figure in the history of American sports: Jimmy Winkfield, the last black jockey to win the Kentucky Derby. Like that of more well-known black performers Paul Robeson and Josephine Baker, Winkfield's success was a mixed blessing: racism and injustice ultimately force Winkfield to flee his native country for Russia, where he witnesses the revolution and lands in Paris with other Russians. The youngest of 17 children in a Kentucky sharecropping family, Winkfield's passion for horses sets in early, and his slight stature bolsters his desire to be a jockey, "where blacks and whites rubbed shoulders without cross words or a stinging backhand to upset the harmony."Black jockeys such as "the legendary slave jockey Simon ... who helped drive General Andrew Jackson from the racing game" and Isaac Murphy, who was so successful, he built himself a $10,000 house before the turn of the 20th century. While Drape's attempts at novel-esque narrative occasionally read cliché, this well-researched biography of Jimmy Winkfield and the larger chapter of America his life highlights is a valuable and entertaining read. 16 page b&w photo insert.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
The prospects for a small black man born in the American South in 1882 were grim. That Jimmy Winkfield, the seventeenth child of a sharecropper, grew from such barren ground to become the toast of three continents is nearly incredible. Winkfield's gift was a unique ability to understand and communicate with Thoroughbred racehorses. He parlayed that gift into worldwide success as a jockey, winning consecutive runnings of the Kentucky Derby in 1901 and 1902 before fleeing America's racism for even greater fame in Europe and in Russia. Along the way, he married three times (twice to white women), took two mistresses, fathered five children, made and lost fortunes, and was a firsthand witness to many of the events that shaped the twentieth century. Drape's exhaustive research allows him to tell Winkfield's story in detail and in context. While fully appreciative of Winkfield's accomplishments as a jockey, a horseman, and a man, Drape doesn't gloss over the jockey's many transgressions against those he loved, and that is what makes this biography not just a tribute but a life.
Dennis Dodge
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved