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HomeNewsArchivesThe Bookworm Says: 'Until Tuesday' Is A Story of Love and Healing

The Bookworm Says: 'Until Tuesday' Is A Story of Love and Healing

“Until Tuesday” by Fmr. Capt. Luis Carlos Montalván, with Bret Witter, 2011, Hyperion, $22.99, 252 pages

Growing up as a Cuban American, Luis Carlos Montalván, who grew up a Cuban American, says he was mostly just “an enlisted grunt” in September 2001 when the U.S. was attacked by terrorists. He begged to go overseas, and was sent to Al-Waleed, the largest border crossing between Syria and Iraq, a place that “was like America’s Wild West out there.”

Months after he arrived, Montalván was badly injured in an attack: cracked vertebrae, bruises, cuts, and a traumatic brain injury. The medical team wanted him sent to Baghdad, but Montalván resisted. He returned to Al-Waleed and later re-upped for a second tour of duty.

When that tour was over, Montalván was “ready to leave.” He’d seen enough, had lost enough friends. He landed in a tiny Brooklyn apartment, suffering from migraines, post-traumatic stress disorder, agoraphobia, and injuries both physical and emotional.

Then someone sent him an e-mail about service dogs available to war veterans.
Montalván had a dog growing up and it had been his best playmate. He remembered how he loved dogs, and this seemed to be the lifeline he needed. He applied and a few months later, he met Tuesday.

With a reddish-brown coat, a fanned tail, wiggly eyebrows, and an expressive face, Tuesday was beautiful but he didn’t appear to be paying attention to his job. Still, Montalván knew on his second day in training that this was his dog. He knew Tuesday could help him heal.

What he didn’t know was that the healing would come on both ends of the leash.

Never judge a book by its cover.

“Until Tuesday” is much more than the goofy Golden grin you see on the book jacket. Author and former Captain Luis Carlos Montalván, writing with Bret Witter, writes of the horrors of war from a soldier’s viewpoint and war’s aftermath from a survivor’s viewpoint. He has a few choice words about his Commanders in Chief and our involvement in Iraq, and he becomes an activist before our eyes when people deny Tuesday entry to everyday places.

But where Montalván soars is in writing about his dog. His is puppy love in the purest sense, and for dog lovers it’s as delightful as that grin on the cover of this book.

If a happy ending is what you want for your summertime reading, this is the thing to fetch. Grab “Until Tuesday” and you won’t want to go anywhere without it.


The Bookworm is Terri Schlichenmeyer. Terri has been reading since she was 3 years old and never goes anywhere without a book. She lives on a hill in Wisconsin with two dogs and 12,000 books. Her self-syndicated book reviews appear in more than 260 newspapers.

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