Customer Reviews

The Howling Vowels

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The Howling Vowels (Volume 1)
Leslie Schultz is a sensitive, insightful poet who uses those skills to advantage in The Howling Vowels, her first published, middle grade novel. Inspired by adventures in homeschooling her own daughter, Schultz brings to life five fun, terrific kids, especially Alexa, the main character.

While reading The Howling Vowels, I thought, "Who's going to believe the point of view of Alexa, who often speaks with a sophisticated grasp of language?" My answer? "Everyone!" Kids in general have a natural language ability. When encouraged, they develop it early on. This is doubly true of THV's main character.

Alexa is gifted, precocious, and a joy to follow through this story of a New York City ten-year-old who blooms in small town life, reflecting the satisfaction and challenge Schultz and her family find in their own version of Sundog, Minnesota. What a treat to find kids who are allowed to be kids and not super-heroes. Schultz transforms the commonplace and makes it new and interesting through her children as they discover and experience everything for the first time--a sense of wonderment found in the author's poetry. While reading, I often wished I lived in Sundog, too, and decided we can all live in Sundog if we just look around and take the trouble to find it.

Not only a good read, Schultz's book is a tribute to the beauty of education as a source of entertainment and wonder. It's about what education can be, far beyond facts, figures, and dates. Education at its best expands the soul as well as the mind and prepares us in innumerable ways not only for careers, but for life.

The Howling Vowels by Leslie Schultz is a wonderful story. I think anyone would enjoy it as much as I did. Reading it made me smile. The illustrations are very cute and go with the story.

The Howling Vowels is a delightful read for an imaginative child, a parent of a precocious child, or a grandparent of one. Leslie Schultz captured a transitional year in the life of ten-year old, Alexa, how she adjusted to homeschooling and her family's move from NYC to suburban Minnesota, and how her newly found friends - each friend's name beginning with a different vowel - added dimension to her development.