"Bear in the Backseat II: Adventures of a Wildlife Ranger" by Kim DeLozier and Carolyn Jourdan

I read "Bear in the Backseat" by Kim DeLozier and Carolyn Jourdan last year while we were hanging out in the Smoky Mountains and Gatlinburg.  I found out that the authors put out a follow up to this fun book!  I figured I should read that one to go along with another trip to the Smoky Mountains/Gatlinburg area!

Just like the first collection of stories from Kim DeLozier, this volume contains more simple, easy to read stories from Kim about his time as a ranger in the Smoky Mountains.

AND, that's what I really like about these books.  It is packed with short stories that any one will enjoy- young readers, old readers, etc.  Plus, there are a lot of stories. 

Hey, remember that time that an unconscious bear woke up in the back seat of your car?  What about the time your buddy thought he had absorbed a drug 10,000 times more potent than morphine through his skin?  Or, that time you got into a fight with a wild boar while a TV crew from CNN taped the whole thing?  Of course you don't remember anything like that happening to you...  It only happens to rangers like Kim DeLozier!  He covers those kind of stories in his book!

AND, just like in the first volume, there are lots of bear stories.  He is big on elk in this one too, which I thought was pretty cool.  He mentions one of my other all time favorite parks (Land Between the Lakes) as elk from LBL are transported to and tracked through the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  Elk are big critters, and can cause a lot of issues in a park!  Kim includes a VERY touching story about a mother elk and her struggles with motherhood.

This book, along with the first volume, is the perfect thing to take along on your trip to the Smoky Mountains, or to read before you venture out to help get you excited about the journey.  It gets my highest possible recommendation.