I put off reading ALEX AND ME because I heard it was a tearjerker. It isn’t. And I am glad I finally read it.

This book is nonfiction about a scientist, Irene Pepperberg, trying to determine the intelligence of parrots, Alex in particular. She worked with other parrots as well, but her longest relationship was with Alex, and Alex's demonstrated intelligence outshone the others.

Over Alex’s 30 years, Pepperberg continually faced a scientific community that denied her claims. For the last few years of Alex‘s life, though, they were beginning to accept that a parrot with a bird brain the size of a walnut could do at least what a chimp could, I.e., communicate.

Alex became somewhat of a celebrity with his demonstrations of intelligence. Most impressive, though, was Alex‘s ability to show that all animals have intelligence and can think.