SUBPAR PARKS (Secondary title: America’s Most Extraordinary National Parks and Their Least Impressed Visitors) is a short illustrated introduction to the United States National Parks system — based on actual one-star reviews left by visitors on Yelp and other places. Honest! Awarded three stars on Goodreads.
Author Amber Share is a professional illustrator and graphic designer. As a lifelong visitor to (and lover of) our country’s national parks, she was entertained by the ridiculous comments left by visitors. How, after all, can you visit Grand Canyon National Park and then leave as your public review:
A hole. A very, very large hole.
Grand Canyon National Park image in the public domain
I must admit I enjoyed reading the truly useless visitor reviews but found they didn’t support the concept for an entire book.
Amber Share is also the book’s illustrator (see sample image above using words from a review of Mammoth Cave), populating the book with attractive and large color illustrations and black and white drawings. She also offers a written overview of each of the 77 parks covered though it’s quite basic information, not enough to actually plan a visit.
Amber Share Photo by Madelene Wales from the author’s website
What may be useful are the tips from park rangers that are sprinkled throughout. For example, suggesting areas where there are fewer visitors in a given park.
SUBPAR PARKS would be a good book for a group read-aloud with friends. You wouldn’t necessarily have to read the entire 200 page book. And it would likely spark both laughter and personal stories.
Toby A. Smith 