The Foreign Service Journal, November 2009

N O V E M B E R 2 0 0 9 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 33 love, through the humorous yet touching story of a 13- year-old boy, his mother, an African pastor and unex- pected tragedy. Young Nic Delano is your typical wry, rebellious teenager, save that his mother is a savvy and areligious astrophysicist. While a good chunk of his mind ob- sesses over the discovery of sex and women, he also be- comes fascinated by the lives of his Christian friends. At first Nic attempts to hide his newfound interest in the Bible, but mother Lucy discovers the truth. Dis- traught as she is, Lucy does not want to alienate Nic, so she agrees to allow an African pastor named Dele to live with them. Then tragedy strikes, revealing the bonds of love and understanding that transcend reli- gious strife and give Killham’s story its winning ten- derness. The daughter of an FSO, Nina Killham lived abroad until she was 16. She earned a B.A. in government from the College of William and Mary and is the author of two previous novels, How to Cook a Tart (Bloomsbury USA, 2003) and Mounting Desire (Bloomsbury USA, 2006). She lives in London, where she is writing her fourth novel. A Blondie Reader: Old Wine in New Verses James R. Wachob, Authorsolutions, 2009, $10.99, paperback, 112 pages. This truly inventive humor book seeks to achieve an age-old goal — to build a better blonde joke. While not all of the jokes are new, their presentation is unique and charming. A veteran of brief verse, Wachob skillfully conveys classic and newly crafted humor through 105 short, memorable poems. Although the collection consists entirely of “dumb blonde” jokes, Wachob takes great pains to remove the groan-inducing stigma of that trite and dying style. He asserts that his collection of jokes refer not to blondes in general, but instead to a character, Blondie, “stand- ing in for all naïve and guileless individuals — regard- less of gender or hair color — with experiences that others find amusing.” James R. Wachob has served in the U.S. military, the Foreign Service and academia, composing poetry at every stage of his career. Now retired and residing with