Trailblazer Reads: Reviews/Winners

Volcano Cowboy was a truly exciting book. The author's presentation pulls the reader into the action. When Mount St. Helens erupted, I was in Iowa, but I remember the day's brightness shadowed by the ash. Tracking the technological upgrades to modernize the science of volcanology was very interesting. The realization and responsibility those "cowboys" came to see as they monitored and provided information to other agencies, was a heavy responsibility. Being relatively new to this area, I have wondered where all the black volcanic rock has come from. This is a book I could recommend. It is exciting enough you won't want to put the book down! - Nancy Martinez, student

For a coming citizen, this aspect of American capitalism and slavery was an unsettling eye-opener to a reality of slavery in U.S. history. Pondering on the "whipping machine" the thought occurred to me in the phrase of "whipping things into shape". The phrase is in common use with the idea of getting something accomplished efficiently and quickly, which was exactly the purpose of the slave labor camps in the harvesting of cotton. The brutality against the African-Americans rivals that of the Assyrians, which makes one cringe. I was impressed by the author's sensitivity to the survival adjustments the enslaved developed because of a basic need to survive but also a noble sense of giving something to their posterity that no man could take away- an innate sense of having value as a human being. The economic dependency of the "south" on cotton production and the impact on the world market at the time is an important aspect of American history to understand in light of becoming a new nation. It sets the stage for world politics. As I have pondered the historic events and tried to recognize their impact in the 21st century, I can only conclude from the multi-facets of this event hat the "half has never been told". Thank you for making the book available, I would never have seen it otherwise.
-Nancy Martinez

During spring semester of 2022 as a student at Dixie State University I had the privilege of reading the book: The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa. This is a wonderfully joyous read with some tragedy mixed in like life often turns out to be. I even enjoyed the mathematics of the professor and math has never been my favorite subject. I wasn’t sure what to expect when I checked out this book, recommended by Professor Cara Calvo, in January of 2022 as a pick in the Dixie Reads program. I am so happy I read it and can recommend it to anyone who likes a good story.

The book begins when a housekeeper is sent to be the 10th housekeeper hired to clean and cook for an aged mathematics professor who, due to an accident about twenty years prior, has only 80 minutes of memory so always lives in the present. The professor’s sister-in-law hires the housekeeper and later fires and rehires her. The housekeeper has a son in grade school whom the professor nicknames Root because his head is the shape of the square root symbol. The book is set in Japan in the early 1990s.

As the book progresses the reader learns more about the accident which took the professor’s memory. The professor is a mathematical genius who thinks in numbers. The number on a watch he owns synchs with the housekeeper’s birthday of 2/20. He loves prime numbers. The professor still solves mathematical problems put out in magazines as contests and wins several. He also teaches the housekeeper and Root about the language and poetry of math. The true nature of the relationship between the sister-in-law and the professor is alluded to when the housekeeper goes above and beyond duty to nurse the professor back to health. The three become a family as the professor never had children and both Root and the housekeeper were abandoned by their fathers.

He grew ill after the three characters go to a baseball game of the professor and Root’s favorite team, the Tigers. The main thing the professor and Root have in common is a shared love of baseball. The professor’s favorite player, a pitcher named Enatsu, was traded shortly after his accident and later retired before Root was born, 10 years ago. The housekeeper and Root conspire not to burst his bubble and never tell him this truth. When they decide to get the professor a baseball card of Enatsu that the professor doesn’t already own they have a challenge. They do find a special, limited edition, commemorative card from way back in the last place they look.

There are several moments in the book which are joyous, poignant, or tragic. The most joyous for me was when the threesome celebrate Root’s 11th birthday and the professor winning one of the largest prizes in math ever awarded. He doesn’t care about the prize so doesn’t expect the housekeeper and her son to give him a gift. When they give him the Enatsu card he is so moved that he cannot speak. Two days later he moves to an assisted living facility and the housekeeper moves on to another client. However, the three remain fast friends for the remainder of the professor’s life. The professor wears the gifted Enatsu card around his neck for the rest of his life. Have you ever received a gift so special? The influence on their three lives of knowing each other is great.

I fell in love with the characters in this book and their bond of deep friendship made new every day for the professor. I would strongly recommend this book to anyone who values family, friends and love. I would rate this one of the best books I’ve ever read. Thank you Cara for recommending it.
-Klis Guckenburg