Tag Archives: review

131 votes for My Life as a Mule

Mahalo for your support!

2 Replies

Thank you friends for supporting my first book My Life as a Mule in the TaleFlick Discovery contest.

We landed 8th out of 40 books with 131 votes. Not too shabby! ;-)

And . . . in the eleventh hour I received the most AMAZING review from an acquaintance.

I met this “true reader’s heart” (how she described herself : ) years ago when I was the waterfront director at a camp for diabetic children, * TCDC. She was a camper. I haven’t seen her since (many, MANY moons!), though I have a wispy memory of her wide, vibrant smile!

Here is what she wrote:

“There have been several great stories told from the perspective of animals that gently urge us to take a look at ourselves. (Charlotte’s Web, Animal Farm, and Watership Down come to mind.)

Now, we have “My Life as a Mule.”

This book, told from the perspective of Molly, leads us to confront our own thoughts regarding class conflict, race relations, anxiety, bullying, self-doubt, and fear. Are our perspectives our own? Or are they the ones forced upon us by those around us that became comfortable because we’ve stopped challenging our values?

Molly is a delight as she moves through the challenges of her life and matures as her understanding grows.

Thank you, Ms. LeHoven, for daring us to look at our belief systems in such a non-threatening manner. It is a book you will love reading over and over again, but also one that you will share with loved ones and strangers, alike.

Open your mind and your heart. Molly is waiting.”

Wow, thank you Ms. Marquis for taking the time to find me on facebook, buy my book, AND . . . read it!  May Molly be a lifelong companion as you continue on your way. <3

With MUCH love and GRATITUDE for you ALL,

xoxox Sj xoxox

* I’m in that black and white photo from 1981 shown on the TCDC Alumni page. ;-)

Reading 'My Life as a Mule' on an airplane.

Summer Reading Fun

2 Replies

Whether you’ve got a long flight to somewhere,

or are hanging at the beach with your toes in the sand,

or . . . just want to beat the summer blahs,

Molly the Mule’s journey as experienced in ‘My Life as a Mule’ is the perfect companion.

But don’t take my word for it, read the lastest review on Amazon.

Happy reading . . . and here’s to an awesome 4th of July!

xoxoxo Sj xoxoxo

Green Pueo's 5 star review

“Molly becomes a representation of the enlightenment available to anyone, at any moment.”

Leave a reply

OMG, Green Pueo,

That Molly’s story speaks to you so . . . warms the cockles of my heart. <3

Godspeed on YOUR journey, Green Pueo!

May you SPREAD YOUR WINGS WIDE and SOAR to HEIGHTS BEYOND YOUR WILDEST DREAMS!

✫Sj✫

* A Pueo is “a subspecies of the short-eared owl that is endemic to Hawaii.

5 star review by Green Pueo on Amazon

“This book came to me when I needed it most. It is a romp through Molly’s pastures as she travels along the road to self-discovery. It is less than a novel and more of a journey, a pilgrimage diary whereby a donkey attempts to determine how he feels about issues of personal priority. Rather than following the opinions of a delightful set of brilliantly written animal characters, Molly listens to echoes of her own inner ear signaling to the reader that we each have that power as well unless we choose to surrender it.

This is a world where animals can speak and make us feel that we have entered a safe space where their actions and decisions impact us in new and surprising ways. We read books to escape our fears and the darkness of everyday life, and this book is a positive way to discover that we each have an inner message we are obligated to share with others.

Not sure if this book is autobiographical, but Molly doesn’t surrender to peer pressure or the ordinary life.

The story is a timeless refreshing breath of simplicity and creativity. I enjoyed the short chapters and fun illustrations.

The imagery the author creates reads like an old mythic tale. The playful dialogue told with simple descriptive prose helped me to picture Molly’s world as being hand drawn. Like the step-by-step lines of the pencil, the “Aha” moment comes only after watching a foundation of underlay develop on the author’s canvas. Molly becomes a representation of the enlightenment available to anyone, at any moment.

Molly speaks for us all, lets us know we are each on a different path and when she speaks, it doesn’t sound exactly like a donkey or a horse. Instead, a mule makes a sound that is similar to a donkey’s but also has the characteristics of a horse, starting with a whinny, and ending with a hee-haw! Therefore at the moment of refusal, disappointment, or when we are faced with self-evaluation, one is capable of ‘waking up’ as an individual and seeing the interconnectedness of everything. Molly not only “whinnys” with lightheartedness but also punctuates her message with Hee Haws in the short chapters of this book. Readers of all ages will most likely discover within ‘My Life as a Mule’ that her voice resonates in much deeper ways.”

MAHALO for sharing Molly’s story with friends!

xoxox Sj xoxox

My Life as a Mule is available through Amazon.

Molly's Epiphany Tea

Molly’s Epiphany Tea

My Life as a Mule four 5 Star reviews

National Mule Day – October 26th

1 Reply

National Mule Day is on October 26th.

And what better way to celebrate than to purchase your own copy of My Life as a Mule  (click on the title or HERE to go directly to Amazon).

Not sure if it’s a good fit for you? Read Claire’s review below to get an idea of what’s in store when you meet Molly up close and personal.

I’ve just finished reading Sj Hylton LeHoven’s My Life As A Mule for the second time. It is superb. On the surface, it seems like such a straightforward story with adorable talking animals but there is so much more to it. I now see it as a coming of age allegory with family members and everyday joys and mishaps that we can all relate to. Back in my day, we would call it “deep.” There were plenty of times during the read that I had to stop and think about the deeper meaning of a passage.

Sj tells her story using animals just as Orwell did in Animal Farm but thankfully, there are revelations rather than revolutions, and compassion conquers tyranny. Molly the Mule’s teenage awakenings are not nearly as ominous as pigs on two legs. This is a sweet and sad, and often laugh out loud read and somewhere in the middle, I forgot all the characters were animals.

It’s tough to pin down with regard to “the” audience. I loved it but so did our 9 year old grandson. It’s entertaining and educational on a number of levels and for ages eight to 80. The book is beautifully illustrated by a very talented Jocelyne Shiner and you can even buy prints of her work. A delightful five stars all around.

Mahalo nui loa! xoxoxoxoxox

✫Sj✫

A Baptism

A Baptism

Pedrata reading My Life as a Mule

One Review at a Time…

Leave a reply

Creatures of all shapes and sizes are reading My Life as a Mule.

I don’t know what sspokes looks like or what kind of animal s/he is, but I do know that she connected with Molly. Deeply.

Have you met Molly yet?It’s time. She’s patiently waiting and will greet you with a smile whenever that perfect time for you is. : )

I have no doubt that this book was brought to me as a Divine gift. There is a message somewhere in this book for everyone whether it is as simple as laughing at some of the experiences of life that Molly encounters or deeply feeling a heart-felt connection with her at the turning points in her life. I saw many aspects of my life’s lessons and experiences mirrored back to me in a most affirming way. I am so grateful to have found this book at this time in my life and I know it is a wonderful read for anyone at any age. Besides I love horses and Molly is a wonderful voice for the equine family. Enjoy the story.

sspokes on Amazon, July 20, 2018

Geoff's Review 6.28.2018 picture

My Life as a Mule – A Review by J. Geoffrey Jones

2 Replies

My Life as a Mule – A Review by J. Geoffrey Jones

I’ve been reading a book by a writer with the elegant name Sj Hylton LeHoven. The content of her book, as well as some of her other writings I’ve seen, make me feel a bit the way *Emerson must have felt when he wrote the letter Walt Whitman quoted on the back of the first edition of Leaves of Grass. It’s a great pleasure to be able to help in any way possible to bring good literature to its audience.

I’m finding My life as A Mule to be a remarkable group of stories. The writing concept is, by turns, reminiscent of Charlotte’s Web, Aesop’s Fables, and Alice in Wonderland. It uses talking animals to tell human truths just as the above classics do. Through her human spirited characters she tells the story of the passage from childhood to adulthood of her main character, Molly, with many seemingly simple but actually much deeper insights. Young people will enjoy this book but adults will as well. It is well illustrated with drawings by Jocelyne C. Shiner.

A lot of the writing, it appears, was scoped out during the bravely ambitious traveling Sj has been doing in her custom camper ( ala John Steinbeck’s Travels With Charley or Robert Louis Stevenson’s Travels with A Donkey). She considers herself “Riding the Trust Train,” a rare wording in these times. Her adventurous inquisitiveness has paid off both in new friendships as well as new self-realizations.

I am glad she found a copy of The Reader as she passed through Murfreesboro (Tennessee) and wrote mehttp://www.rutherfordreader.com/ an enthusiastic note at the time. ( I had just published an article about the full solar eclipse that week) From then on I followed up on her Odyssey. Which has led me to this book. I’m glad to have learned of Sj’s creative journey. And to share the news with you. Find a copy of this well written group of stories. You’ll be glad you did. J. Geoffrey Jones, The Rutherford Reader ld_byron37086@yahoo.com

Published June 28, 2018 in The Rutherford Reader.

My Life as a Mule is available at Amazon. Click on the title for the link to purchase your own copy. : )

*Curious about the story about Whitman and Emerson? Click here to learn more. And click here to read Whitman’s letter dated August 1656.