Review by Liz_4105 -- That Place of Knowledge

[Liz_4105]

[Following is a volunteer review of "That Place of Knowledge" by Philip Alan Shalka.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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That Place of Knowledge is a short story as told by the perspective of a service dog. The main characters are Philip, a young boy with Autism, and his service dog Sabre. It's a very quick read, taking only about 25 minutes, but it is full of wisdom and truth.

The story focuses around a young boy's interactions with Aristotle. Philip has a hard time being understood as he has a non verbal form of Autism. He and Sabre meet Aristotle in an other-worldy manner and the three share conversations about how to find happiness and the key to acceptance.

This book provides more insight into the human mind in twenty four pages than most people will gather in a lifetime. It really delves into finding happiness through knowing yourself and trying to understand the differences in people. You begin to understand the importance of learning to relax your mind and feel at peace. A line by Aristotle stating we are all unique and must accomplish things in our own way really resonated with me. The issues with diversity and differences are very current and the knowledge gained from reading this book could be a great first step in trying to resolve those issues.

There were a few errors in the book and one repeatedly occurred. Any word with a double "f" had spacing issues. It's hard to tell if this was a formatting problem due to an electronic version but the word different repeatedly appeared as di ff erent. The same issue happened with the word effect appearing as e ff ect.

The author provided a little blurb at the end of the book about his experience with Autism and how he has learned to excel. He really concludes that being different shouldn't be viewed as something negative, which our society often does. He uses the example of Albert Einstein being seen as a different, since his ideas were so far from what others were testing.

There was a lack of character development, which is understandable considering the length. I do wish that the dog played a somewhat larger role in the book, as it's touted to be told from his perspective. One of my favorite books is also told from the dog's perspective, but you truly came to know and feel for this character. I know creating robust characters is difficult in short stories but I would have been happy to have a little bit longer of a story with more development.

I would rate this book as 3 out of 4 stars. The only thing that held me back from giving the fourth star was the editing. Aside from that, this truly should be a mandatory read. If young adults were given this information and learned to view others with understanding and kindness, our next generation would truly make an impact on the world. The book is a quick read that truly delivers.

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That Place of Knowledge
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