In her New York Times bestseller Animals as Teachers and Healers, Susan Chernak McElroy movingly explored the wide and enriching horizons of human relationships with animals. In this new volume of reflections and true animal stories, she invites us to broaden and deepen that relationship. While living with her husband and animals on a farm in Oregon, McElroy pondered the ancient bonds that connect humans and animals: the healing gifts of animals, the genius of people who talk to them, and the power of animal messengers. She also asked herself the tough questions that engage every true animal lover. How can we soothe our anguish and guilt when a loved animal suffers or dies? How do we atone for our mistakes? When are animals prisoners and when are they fulfilled? Is it moral to eat other beings? And how can we go about transforming our relationship with animals? Through daily experiences with the animals around her and those in her dreams--along with compelling true stories sent to her by readers--McElroy began to find answers. She discovered that animals are guides in the development of our souls. A frail llama teaches lessons of joy and unconditional love; a barn cat proves that service need not be imprisonment but fulfillment; a mortally injured hawk infuses a cancer patient with renewed strength and faith; an attentive rabbit awakens an abused child from a trance of sadness; and a skinny white horse does more for a damaged six-year-old boy in one hour than any human has done in six years. In this deeply personal yet universal testament to the profound connection between animals and humans, there is wisdom and blessing. As the author reminds us, the fingerprint of God is often a pawprint. YA-Looking at the relationship between humans and the animals in their lives, McElroy asserts that "Nothing that happens between humans and animals is separate from what happens in every other aspect of human life. Who we are with animals mirrors who we are." Through vivid anecdotes of her life on an Oregon farm, and with touching stories shared by readers of her previous book, Animals as Teachers and Healers (Ballantine, 1997), the author writes sensitively about grief and remorse experienced at the loss of pets; euthanasia; emotional pain occasioned by witnessing cruelty to animals (and ways to address these situations); the ethics of using animals in service to humans; the meaning of animals when they appear in dreams; and the joyful lessons animals can teach. Not simply a personal statement, the book relates these concerns to cultural changes, as Western science and spirituality are now outgrowing many old beliefs about the psychology, intelligence, and emotional nature of animals. Recognizing and respecting the complexity of human ethical concerns regarding animals, McElroy does not push a particular agenda but attempts to understand and tolerate the different positions people may take. This is an invaluable resource for teens wishing to understand and explore their feelings about animals, and to make informed and appropriate decisions concerning their relationships with them. Christine C. Menefee, Fairfax County Public Library, VA Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. In a gentle and interesting series of vignettes, Susan McElroy charts a life in which animals form a fundamental part. Seeing life as a table, she feels that animals must have a seat at the table, neither above nor below humans but on equal footing. Yet this book is not anthropomorphic--it does not assume that animals feel what we feel--rather, the author teaches us to find joy in animals, to get a "dose of enchantment" from our interactions with them. Speaking of the soul as the "unseen, often disowned inner guardian of our lives," the author relates a series of stories (both hers and her correspondents') of specific incidents when animals brought grace and healing to the storyteller. Although several of the tales veer into the realm of psychic communication with animals, the majority of the text speaks of the warm affirmation of life that is found in relationships with animals, recommending the book to libraries with well-used animal sections. Nancy Bent McElroy (Animals as Teachers and Healers, not reviewed) celebrates ``the lessons learned at the four-footed threshold,'' where animals point to ``a particularly rich and rewarding track to personal awareness and to a more genuine and soul-filled life.'' Here McElroy explores five stations on the shared path of animals and human spirituality, communication, service, forgiveness, and transformationthrough stories (``When I had cancer, I learned quickly that stories were far more healing to me than statistics or information'') told by herself and ``other animal-oriented souls.'' Pretty much from the get-go, McElroy's soul, ``the inner guardian of our lives,'' had spoken to her about her affinity to animals: ``Could I have chosen my passion, I would not have chosen animals . . . But I did