Jeff Alt is a motivational speaker, expert hiker, speech pathologist, teacher and author. We first got to know him in his first book, “A Walk for Sunshine” where he hiked the Appalachian Trail. His openness, humor, and purpose make this book a great read.

In A HIKE FOR MIKE, Alt hikes the John Muir Trail in California. The hike and book was dedicated to his brother-in-law, Mike, who committed suicide during depression. Throughout the book and his hike, he educates us and people he meets about the seriousness of depression. The last chapter, 24 – Depression: know the facts, is full of information and on-line resources for both the sufferer and family.

The John Muir Trail, JMT, is 218 miles of rugged, climbing trial through California’s Sierra Nevada mountain range which begins in Happy Isles, elevation 4,035 ft., and ends at Lone Pine beside Mt. Whitney, elevation 14,496 ft. All of it is exposed to extreme temperature swings, deadly lighting storms, flash floods, bears, and mountain lions (hikers have been attacked and killed by the lions and bears). That’s not including potential strange and dangerous people - Chapter 18, A Creep at 10,000 Feet - yikes!

Jeff and his wife, Beth, take on the JMT with humor and resolve. Jeff’s writing is so good that you experience the adventure, pains, fears, wonderment, and appreciation for nature’s beauty that they had. He writes with candor, telling everything.

Their underwear shopping, Chapter 5, Finished Basements, is funnier read than explained. From losing his clothes on the first day, to catching his first trout, to the arguments with Beth, to protecting her with a makeshift spear, to Beth’s almost deadly accident he tells all.

I really enjoyed this book. His description of what they did and explanation of why they did it shows what a great teacher and writer he is. The amount of detail is well integrated with the story and dialogue. Based on his book, I feel I can hike the trail and know what to expect. Personally, I now know I’m not going on that hike. It’s too rugged for me. The importance of Jeff and Beth’s purpose is Depression Awareness, which is highlighted by the stories from the other hikers and people they met along the trail.

About the author:

Jeff Alt’s adventures have been featured in media nationwide including: ESPN’s Inside America’s National Parks, Hallmark Channel’s New Morning, CNN-Radio, USA Radio Network, the AP, the Chicago Sun Times, and many more. Alt is a talented speaker, teacher, and the award-winning author of “A Walk for Sunshine” and “A Hike for Mike.” Alt is a member of the Outdoor Writers Association of America (OWAA). Jeff has shared his Appalachian Trail adventures with guests in the Shenandoah National Park for over six years. He holds a Master’s degree from Miami University in Ohio and a degree from the University of Toledo. He continues to host the annual Walk-With-Sunshine inspired by his Appalachian Trail journey. Jeff has walked the 2,160-mile Appalachian Trail, the 218-mile John Muir Trail with his wife, and last summer he carried his 21-month old daughter in a pack across a swath of Ireland on a family hike.

Note: A copy of this book is to be raffled off at

http://j-kaye-book-blog.blogspot.com

Edward Tulane began his life in a wonderful home, though he didn't know enough to appreciate it. Abilene Tulane loved him, sat him by the window with a pocket watch every day to wait for her to come back from school. He sat at the dinner table, he was tucked in at night. But he considered it all beneath him. Abilene treated him as an equal, but Edward couldn't interact with her, so it seemed rather pointless.

On an ocean voyage, Edward draws some unwanted attention from other passengers, and ends up going overboard. His last sight is his watch glinting in the sunlight as Abilene holds it high.

He spends a long time at the bottom of the ocean, buried in the dark, alone. Finally, a storm comes along, tossing and turning him, until he finds himself caught in a fisherman's net. Once discovered, he gets brought home to Nellie, who loves him immediately, but much to his dismay, has decided he's a girl.

He doesn't like the dresses, but life as Susannah isn't so bad. Nellie talks to him, and her husband takes him out nightly to see the stars. Things continue happily, until a visit from their daughter, who decides Edward is some wicked thing, and takes him with the garbage to the dump.

Eventually dug up by a dog, Edward then becomes Malone, and lives a hobo's traveling life. Until he gets thrown from a train, and rescued by an old woman who thinks he'll by a fine scarecrow.

Her working boy doesn't agree, and brings him home to his ill sister, Sarah Ruth, who Edward loves til her dying day.

After a day spent dancing in Memphis, and a meal unpayed for, Edward suffers his worst trauma yet. Which leads him to the doll mender, where the circle eventually completes.

It takes much for Edward to truly understand the story Pellegrina, Abilene's grandmother, told them so long ago. Even after he's learned his lesson, he must relearn it, as so much hardship and lost love has caused him to grow jaded. It takes an ancient doll to open his mind, and then his heart.

Having read this story, I can indeed see how it could turn a hard man like Brother Kuckles (Brother Odd, Dean Koontz) to change his ways. Edward's tale should be enough to crack even the hardest heart. I may be needing to reserve a shelf on my favorites bookshelf for Kate DiCamillo--I'm sure to be adding this to the permanent collection too.

Despereaux Tiling was born a disappointment. You'd think, as the only survivor of his litter, he'd have been considered a blessing. But there was something different about him, right from the very beginning. For one, he had abnormally large ears. For another, his eyes, which were supposed to be closed, were wide open, staring in wonder at the light on the ceiling, reflecting off his mother's mirror shard. His family all backed away, and so it began.

Disappointment being one of his mother's favorite words, he heard it often growing up, as he displayed few truly mouse-like characteristics. As his family scrounged for crumbs and listened to falling food, Despereaux turned his ear upwards, listening to a sweet sound only he could hear.

His brother Furlough tried to give him lessons in scampering, but Despereaux preferred to take in the splendor of the sunlight through the stained glass windows. His sister tried to teach him the are of nibbling books, but Despereaux couldn't bring himself to do it. He knew it would ruin the story, which he went back to the library often to read.

One night his wanderings lead him to the Princess Pea's room, where her father sat singing to her. Lost to the beauty of the music, Desperaux revealed himself to the humans. The King was sure he was a bug, though his daughter insisted adamantly otherwise. Soon enough, Despereaux sat at the very feet of the king, with Princess Pea petting him. Which is when Furlough happened along and saw him.

It goes without saying I'm sure that this kind of behavior is against just about every mouse rule there is. And so his father brought out his drum to summon the mouse council. He beat it all through the meeting, and as his own son was escorted away, by two hooded companions, one of whom also happened to be related.

Now, the idea is that no mouse will come back from the dungeon, as the rats will have their way with him. But this being a tale of an unlikely hero, Despereaux found himself facing a different fate. One in which he is rescued and set free by the jailer Gregory.

Meanwhile, there are other stories unfolding. That of the princess, who lost her mother not long ago. That of the Rat Chiarascuro, who longs for light--a most un-rat-like condition. That of Miggery Sow, traded to a stranger for some cloth, cigarettes and a hen.

It's when all these stories combine that the real adventure begins.

This is a book I'd seen many times, on shelves and in reviews, and I just never got around to reading it. But after reading Brother Odd, in which one of the monks is a reformed mobster, because of his reading The Tale of Desperaux and The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, I decided I had to check these books out.

I was not at all disappointed.

The Tale of Desperaux is a great story. It's also a really quick read, so you can easily add it to your pile without slowing yourself up much. Sometimes I don't agree with the award winners, but this one definitely deserved it. I plan to add it to me permanent collection as soon as I can.

If you're in need of a pick-me-up, or just want to meet a really great mouse, Despereaux's definitely it.