I put a book on hold at the library-wish I could remember where I heard of it! It may have been one of "Pearls Picks"-Nancy Pearl-longtime head of The Library System-wrote a couple of books-nationally known. Anyway, it was great choice. The Ha-Ha by Dave King. His first, and I hope, not his last.

Howard is a war vet who has not been able to speak for 30 years because of a severe blow to his head during war. He is of normal intelligence and, in his mind, can respond to everything he hears. However, he no longer has the ability to transform those thoughts into verbal or written words. He also cannot read.

A note at the beginning of the book describes a ha-ha as a boundary wall concealed in a ditch so that it does not intrude upon the view. Howard is a gardener at a convent and they have built a berm at the edge of their property with a ha-ha concealed in it. Howard, against the nuns wishes, likes the almost weightless feeling of driving the lawnmower almost to the top and controlling the curve and descent-very dangerous.

Howard finds himself as temporary guardian of the son of his highschool girlfriend and his life is not only turned upside down but, in a sense, re-opened. He has led a quiet, relatively solitary, peaceful, life since coming to terms with his situation-a life closed down because it seems much too difficult any other way. Only now is he realizing how lonely, sad, frustrated, and filled with rage he was. We hear all of Howard's thoughts and feelings while also seeing the limited way he can communicate with others. A beautifully written book.