DANCING WITH CONDORS GIVES HER A ZEST FOR LIFE! Set in California's agricultural Ventura Valley in 1910, this story is difficult to classify. The young heroine reveals a wacky imagination, spunky attitude and distinctly tomboyish taste. These characteristics provide amusing moments for the reader, but this story discusses many serious themes and topics as well: rabies, prolonged grieving, social cruelty, drought-induced poverty and unrealistic expectation to fit into the pre-ordained family mold.July 4th is the holiday spotlighted in this story of almost one year in the life of a child who starts out by trying to become invisible. I was hooked by the cover which showed people in old-fashioned garb next to a horse-drawn vehicle. But Carly's life is far from an agrarian idyll or even sentimentally Waltonesque. I consider the cover somewhat misleading for Carly is definately Not the dainty little lady in white ruffles descending from Aunt Mehitable's carriage. In fact, this spunky protagonist defies proper female tradition on the sly by riding Astride horses (not side saddle) when she can get away with it.But how do condors (dancing, gliding or even dead) influence Carly's life in her dysfunctional family? Ostracized from the Water Company by a long-standing feud, the Carltons must watch helplessly as their unirrigated ranch is slowly strangled in the heat. Then there are the boys in her life: one proves a true friend who teaches her about condors and joins her Sherlock Holmes detective game. The other boy is the spoiled grandson of the family's bitter enemy, who targets her for more than mere verbal abuse.Between lowlife gossip, her distant mother, her authoritarian father and a threat to her beloved dog, Tiger, Calry comes of age at 11. She shows a morbid taste for the cemetery where lies the little brother she never knew, whose place she could never take--the only family member who is truly at peace. Even Carly begins to wonder just when her tears are flowing for real. She stubbornly insists that one day she Will see condors dancing up at Condor Spring. These maligned birds are like Carly--outwardly unattractive, but with hidden depths off grace and aerial beauty. If she can learn to appreciate Them, may not people come to love and accept Her--just as she is--instead of some idealized daughter? Don't let them quench your zest for uninhibited life! (July 11, 2011. I welcome dialogue with teachers.)
