R. L. Maizes

IMPORTANT ANIMAL LIFE MESSAGE: The cat does not die. One of the dogs, however, does. :(

Mixed feelings on this one. I almost DNF'd at 20%, but decided I was just invested enough to persevere. Fascinating premise and Maizes is a great writer, but I don't feel like the plot quite backed it up and wasn't quite caught in. I thought Zev was a really beautiful character--especially in regards to Mo--but didn't care enough for La La.

A few very clever moments though, like the comment on the red cap, and I totally teared up at the end.… (mehr)

With the book’s name of Other Peoples’ Pets, and the bright green cartoon cover, I was expecting a happy book, not the dark drama of this story. Despite being surprised, I was drawn into the story of a child traumatized by her mother’s abandonment and her father’s paranoia due to the family business of burglary. La La learns how to burgle and how to avoid arrest from her father Zev.

La La grows up with an unusual empathy for animals. She feels their pains and their fears. She loves animals deeply, eventually working toward a veterinary degree. Despite people and animals in her life who love her, La La feels alone and abandoned. The one person she wants back in her life is Elissa, her mother, the woman who almost drowned her in an icy pond. Surely, Elissa is sorry that she left, and secretly longs for a new relationship with her daughter. La La creates an ideal mother in her vivid imagination, basing very little on the few facts that she remembers. In the meantime, when Zev is finally caught for burglary, and is in jail awaiting adjudication, La La pays down the expensive lawyer’s fees by dropping out of veterinary school to burglarize and then fence the stolen items. Her justifications are helping her father, who sacrificed so much for her, and tending to the sick or abused animals she finds in each house.

La La’s story is realistic, including the art of burglary and retaining anonymity. Any animal lover will learn to love La La’s broken spirit, her flawed life, and her passion for helping animals.… (mehr)

This is a completely original storyline complete with a flawed and charming character, La La Fine, who is in veterinary school and is completely in love with animals, Brought up by a locksmith, she uses skills learned from her father to break into houses where animals are being abused. Oh, and she’s also responsible for the attorney fees for her father who has been charged with breaking into the home of an elderly man who fell down the stairs and may not live. This is a story to read and enjoy and forget about what is going on around you.… (mehr)