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Are We Nuts?

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A highly entertaining fable of squirrels reliving the history of the United States. Will they solve our problems – faster?


After the Great Disastrous Flood recedes, squirrel greats George Squirrelton and Benjamin Franknut convince the surviving squirrels that they have to organize themselves to survive under the difficult conditions. They form the Sciurus States on the Eastern Seaboard.


However, due to excessive storms, life is difficult until squirrel influencer Steve I’Squirrel discovers that the weird boxes the squirrels find in deserted human dwellings can be used to communicate with other burrows.


The Sciurus States, and especially its capital, Nuttington, begin to flourish. Still, over time, problems arise.


The Tribe Council, which is supposed to protect all squirrels, is favoring their own interests more than the interests of all squirrels. Some residents notice.


Young Harry, a descendant of president Theo Roosquirrel, his Great-Grandpa, the gray eminence of Nuttington burrow, and Gary Logisquir, the Sciurus States’ nut-checkers champion, all discover reasons to be unhappy with The Council’s activities.


Meanwhile, one of the Sciurus States’ residents tries to find the nerve to become a whistleblower because, in truth, The Council has an even bigger secret than Harry, Great-Grandpa, and Gary Logisquir can guess.


Then, one day, Harry finds a rare raspberry. Great-Grandpa tells him that finding a raspberry means that an extraordinary thing might be happening.


Will Harry and his Great-Grandpa discover the Big Secret?

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First published July 4, 2018

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522 people want to read

About the author

Gisela Hausmann

42 books368 followers
Gisela Hausmann is a 29 yr. self-publishing industry veteran, an email evangelist and a top reviewer.

Her work has been featured in regional, national, and international publications including Success magazine (print) and Entrepreneur, on Bloomberg, The Innovation Show - a show for Square Pegs in Round Holes, "The Brutal Truth about Sales & Selling"-podcast, and Austria's Der Standard and Das Wirtschaftsblatt. Gisela is a graduate of the University of Vienna, Austria.

A unique mixture of wild risk-taker and careful planner, she globe-trotted almost 100,000 kilometers on three continents, including to the locations of her favorite books: Doctor Zhivago’s Russia, Heinrich Harrer’s Tibet, and Genghis Khan’s Mongolia.

Her motto:
"Don't wait. The time will never be just right."-Napoleon Hill

For more information about the author please visit her website at www.GiselaHausmann.com



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5 stars
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
Profile Image for Alan.
Author 14 books330 followers
Read
July 6, 2018
When a technology center's doors are closed and guards posted at its entrance, a community elder senses something is amiss. Teenagers Harry and Sean hear about the strange closing and decide to investigate. What follows is a fascinating story of politics gone amok. Sprinkled among this fun story are thought-provoking political nuggets such as "The most practical kind of politics is the politics of decency."

This clever story is made even more entertaining by virtue of all the characters being squirrels. As implausible as a squirrel society seems, Hausmann's world building is excellent. Once you suspend belief, I'm sure you'll enjoy this remarkable story.

Highly recommended for anyone looking for an unusual read.
Profile Image for ALLEN.
553 reviews151 followers
August 30, 2018
A book written at a kids'-eye-view, containing only 108 pages, may sound like it can't quite go from soup-to-nuts in describing the American experience. Yet in this deceptively simple story, ARE WE NUTS?, business writer Gisela Hausmann has given us a charming tale encapsulating our own very American experience of government, and it's set among our favorite and most frustrating arboreal critters, the common tree squirrel.

I appreciated this book, if only to see how a skilled writer can go from mere fable to true allegory in relating how any good government needs a foundation among the governed, but also needs reasonable debate and compromise to keep the good things going, like protecting principles without sacrificing conservation of ideas and nature along the way. Because, you see, we may think the people running things are all nuts, or that only nutty people have anything to do with them, when in fact the American experiment is all about all us "nuts" working together for the common good. And that ain't nuts at all. Highly recommended.
Profile Image for Anita Kovacevic.
Author 27 books31 followers
September 19, 2018
Well, this is a tough one to rate and review. Not because it's not a good book at all, but because it talks about things which hit only too close to home in a worrying way, teaching a serious lesson in a seemingly child-like setting. However, it is NOT a children's book at all.

Imagine being so frustrated by the current political, economical and ecological world situation that you decide to write a semi-satirical fable about it, using squirrels as the synonym for humans and word-playing with the names of famous politicians, past and present, to illustrate your point. You use fable to speak of heavy, unpleasant things you see happenning around the world, especially concerning climate changes. Why would you use this somewhat light approach for bitter truths? I guess not to go mad, shout the reality from rooftops and be called crazy. This way you may merely be called 'the crazy author', but there is nothing 'mere' about it - crazy artists have often spoken out about unpleasant truths and actually started huge changes.

Knowing Gisela Hausmann's previous books, the non-fiction manuals on business correspondence, marketing and social networking, I believe her to be an unrelenting, adamant, meticulous researcher of data, who always corroborates her statements with facts and figures. This is a fictional fable (hm, hm, sort of), which in early squirrel world description shows the author's lovely knack for landscape depiction, but I am positive Hausmann had done a lot of research before turning it into a fable. Although certain paralels with US politics were a bit above my current understanding of personnae and events (not much of a political person myself), the strong environmental warning within the book is obvious, world-wide and will not be ignored.

The fact is that this kind of a political fable may not be palatable to everyone, but it cannot be ignored. It is quite easy to imagine a think-tank of various scholars sitting around a table discussing the real-life details depicted in 'Sciurus States' and why they matter in understanding snd tackling current events. The hashtag suggested by the title is provocative and inviting us not to meekly swallow any lie we are served, and I am somehow rooting for it to catch on. Gutsy, quirky and difficult to ignore!
Profile Image for Wanda Luthman.
Author 17 books183 followers
July 16, 2018
Are We Nuts?

I had thought this book was going to be a children's book because of the cute squirrel on the front but I figured out soon enough that it wasn't really meant for the little kids but teens and older. I thought also as I began reading it that it was a satire on today's political climate. But, I found it entertaining and the characters charming and lovable. I especially liked Great-Grandpa. He was wise and supportive of young Harry's dream to do something great and go on an expedition. While it does encourage young people to speak up if they see an injustice and empowers people that if they come together, they can make a difference, it wasn't preachy or overly political. I really enjoyed the story and think everyone could benefit from its message. Gisela Hausmann is an excellent writer. I have read several of her Naked Truths books that aren't anything like this work of fiction and it's great to see how incredibly talented she is to be able to move from non-fiction to fiction. I highly recommend this book. 5 stars!
Profile Image for Kenna McKinnon.
Author 45 books43 followers
July 13, 2018
Author Gisela Hausmann has penned a mystery / political fable based on a post human apocalypse squirrel society. The clever renaming of famous and infamous American presidents, entrepreneurs, artists, and architects would be more familiar to American readers than internationally, I believe, but most are recognizable even to this Canadian reader. The story starts slowly but gained my interest as it progressed and the mystery deepened of the secret at the heart of societal, global, and political intrique. Many facts about the natural world are sprinkled throughout "Are We Nuts?" and I know from past experience that Hausmann's research is impeccable. The demographics of the section of squirrel society that begins the revolution is revealing and probably prophetic.

I would like to have seen a resolution of the all-too-familiar political scenario and more of Hausmann's lighthearted humor and even romance in the fable. It ends well but perhaps too abruptly. Overall, a read that, like "The Handmaid's Tale" may prove to be more prophetic in the future than at the present moment. Hausmann's reasons for writing this tale are patriotic, intelligent, and well meant, and I applaud the intention, which other artists ought to follow, as artists including authors, did in the beginning years of the Third Reich or Stalinist society. Her mission, of which this small book heralds only the beginning, is also courageous and clear-headed in the light of history and ever-present corruption in high places.
Profile Image for Laura.
3,205 reviews348 followers
April 20, 2022
Political satire or a socioeconomic fable? However you want to classify this interesting tale it will give you something to gnaw on.

Humans are gone and squirrels have discovered technology.
Along with their political hierarchy come secrets.
Some tribes have learned to get along while others are suspicious of outsiders, especially those of a different fur coloration.

Take an outsider's look at what may much resemble your own community.

Totally original and well conceived.
Profile Image for Sherrill Cannon.
Author 20 books209 followers
August 3, 2018
This book is a delightful allegory/fable about our historical and political world, interspersed with clever plays on words (especially names) and current problems. Imagine reading about Bill Gatesquirrel and Johnny Cashsquirrel, whose theme song is “Everybody Loves a Nut”… (which is an actual Johnny Cash song, by the way.) Little humorous touches along the way include phrases like measuring distance as in “800 squirrel jumps away”, “I know it first paw”, easy solutions are a “piece of nut”. There is also veiled advice such as “Squirrels who get to party feel good. And squirrels who feel good don’t ask questions.” There are also subtle suggestions such as the need for younger leaders as in “younger squirrels tend to focus on the long-term outcomes of their actions.” This all culminates in the closing suggestion to use the following “hashtag for all squirrels who want to question something and or tell what’s wrong …#AreWeNuts.” Perhaps in today’s world we all should consider using that hashtag!
Profile Image for Jan Harvey.
56 reviews2 followers
July 5, 2018
Interesting fable

Are we going nuts, these squirrels seem to have had their brains in gear, I always thought animals had a huge amount of tolerance and these squirrels do, from accepting refugees of different colours to the way they plan and look after the community, a novel look at American history if we were more accepting ourselves
Very entertaining read with some tongue in cheek moments that made me smile
Profile Image for Kathy Penn.
Author 26 books177 followers
August 16, 2018
The lesson is important, the writing lyrical, the story line well laid out. With delightful squirrel names like Thomas Jeffersquirrel and Maggie Carnegiesquir, it's easy to get the picture of what is right and wrong in the land of nuts ... err, squirrels. I recommend this modern fable. Its message will stay with you.
Profile Image for R.T. Graham.
Author 4 books8 followers
July 16, 2018
"Are We Nuts" is a cute and clever warning of what happens when the squirrels, in a nutshell (pun intended), let their government run amok. A short read, this book will entertain, yet give readers plenty to think about during these present day, very trying times.
Profile Image for Kasey Riley.
Author 18 books14 followers
July 22, 2018
Fun to read.

I thoroughly enjoyed this fable. It is obvious the author enjoyed writing it. I doubt that I will be able to watch the squirrels under my bird feeders without envisioning she characters in this story from now on. I hope this is the first of a series...can’t wait to see what adventures Harry can get into. Well done.
Profile Image for Alice.
1,189 reviews39 followers
July 29, 2018
Book One

This is going to be a two parter at least, although the story reaches a good resolution. Enjoyable poke at the idiosyncrasies of human government transposed onto squirrels in the manner of Orwell's Animal Farm.
Profile Image for Diane R..
118 reviews1 follower
December 22, 2025
Are We Nuts? is a delightfully inventive fable that blends humor, whimsy, and clever social commentary. Gisela Hausmann crafts a miniature world where squirrels George Squirrelton, Benjamin Franknut, and young Harry mirror the triumphs, struggles, and follies of human society, creating a story that’s both entertaining and surprisingly insightful.

The world-building is remarkable. Nuttington and the Sciurus States feel alive, from the quirky mechanics of squirrel communication to the political intrigues orchestrated by the Tribe Council. Beyond the charming animal antics, the story explores leadership, ethics, and community responsibility in ways that are engaging for readers of all ages. The narrative balances fun, suspense, and wit, and each character especially the heroic young Harry and his wise Great-Grandpa leaves a lasting impression.

Are We Nuts? is a thoughtful, humorous adventure that delights and educates, appealing to fans of inventive fables, lighthearted satire, and imaginative animal stories with a moral undercurrent. Hausmann has created a world readers will want to revisit again and again.
Profile Image for Jessica Adams.
Author 21 books99 followers
February 5, 2023
"Are We Nuts?" is an interesting fable which parallels the United States. Instead of humans, the squirrels take on the roles of our presidents, inventors, and entrepreneurs. The main character, Harry, and his Great-Grandpa, discover there are many secrets being kept from the republic of squirrels. It is up to them to uncover these secrets so everyone can come together to help each other.
There are many book club and student questions in the back of the book for discussion. There are critical thinking questions about the US economy, business, and government which could be used for civics discussions.
Profile Image for Ruth.
379 reviews23 followers
May 3, 2022
Well written parody of current political environment. Laughter at the names of characters and good verbal illustration of "the way things work". Author had his characters, flaws, claws, and all apparent for readers to follow along. This was a free book to read and review. I am not connected to anything involved. I personally am not a political reader but some of friends I know would find this interesting. Well written novel and moderate speed reading.
397 reviews4 followers
September 24, 2022
This book was written by Gisela Hausmann for children to understand how government works. With characters like Christopher Bitsquirrel, George Squirrelton and Benjamin Franknut, the story plays with history as well as civics. The squirrels have created a Federal presidential constitutional republic and are in the midst of an energy crisis. Fun read!
Profile Image for Hayley.
685 reviews11 followers
September 24, 2022
A very enjoyable story. I was laughing out loud at all the squirrel references. The theme of this story is really great and it does a wonderful job of making a complex topic simple and fun.
Also the call to action was definitely a 5 star.
Profile Image for Leonsky.
162 reviews5 followers
March 19, 2022
Juvenile

Good concept, presented in juvenile narration style. Ha to force myself to finish. Thank goodness it was a short book
Profile Image for Tami czenkus.
1,551 reviews24 followers
May 3, 2022
The book was written rather well but I don't think this type of style is my thing but there were moments I caught myself chuckling.
Profile Image for Edie Walls.
1,121 reviews9 followers
August 22, 2022
This was a short and at times confusing read. I support the overall sentiment, but it definitely could have used some proofreading.
Profile Image for Nila Eslit.
127 reviews5 followers
March 27, 2024
Are we nuts? This is the question an elderly squirrel asks his fellow tribesmen. He challenges the young generation to be critical of the policies that concern their group. In this fable, Gisela Hausmann shares a captivating story of a squirrel tribe that is at risk of extinction.

Set in Nuttington, the capital of Sciurus State, Are We Nuts? follows Harry’s story. Harry lives in a burrow with his Great-Grandpa, the eldest member of their tribe.

One day, Harry finds a single fruit from the raspberry bush. He’s delighted to see it for two reasons. One reason is that raspberries are a rarity in their place. And second, finding a single berry when nobody else sees it means that the fruit is his. It’s a tradition in their tribe that if a bush produces more than one berry, the finder must notify the community about it. The bounty is shared with everyone. And so, Harry decides to eat the berry before anyone sees it. He later tells his Great-Grandpa about his find though. The old man tells Harry that finding a raspberry fruit portends something significant to happen.

The Great Disastrous Flood

Harry recalls the history he learns in school. It’s about the Great Disastrous Floods that hit the squirrel communities in the past. Millions of his ancestors were killed as the trees they lived on were felled by the winds. The nut depots were also destroyed, causing widespread starvation among the surviving Sciuridae. Harry’s mother died in one of the devastating storms.

After the waters receded, the founding fathers of the Sciurus State told the squirrel communities to organize themselves and help one another. And so, Harry’s ancestors came together and formulated guidelines for them to live by. Life was that simple in the past.

The Dawn of Modern Technology

However, life in the squirrel communities changes with the introduction of the smart boxes. Through the weird boxes, Harry’s tribe learns many things. They are able to communicate faster with other tribes. Soon, commerce comes alive and life in Nuttington improves.

But then, the observant squirrels notice that the boxes cause significant changes in the tribe’s behavior. Some of them observe that The Council becomes more concerned about the boxes than about the squirrels’ welfare. They also notice that the enterprising squirrels worry more about the marketability and investment returns over creativity.

These developments baffle the critical squirrels. Thus, they decide to do something about it. Read Are We Nuts? and follow how Harry and Great-Grandpa deal with these issues. Also, learn about the raspberry portent.

The Book and the Author of Are We Nuts?

Are We Nuts? is a timely read for the present generation. It’s not just a fable for the readers to enjoy. Rather, the story is relatable to human lives. It’s environmentally, socially, and politically relevant. I like Gisela Hausmann’s concept and the way she organizes the plot. Her writing style is simple and yet she makes the readers contemplate. She may even cause them to take action. What I like the most in the book is when the author presents a meaningful statement. She says through one of the characters,

“Squirrels who get to party feel good. And squirrels who feel good don’t ask questions.”

Aren’t humans like the squirrels? We tend to get overwhelmed with modern technologies that we oftentimes fail to see the side effects of things.

Moreover, the author’s choice of squirrels as the characters in the story is a wise idea. Although the rodents are oftentimes annoying, squirrels have somehow human-like personalities. They are smart and sociable, and they can be bold. Just like humans are.

Because of all these qualities, I give Are We Nuts? a rating of 5 out of 5 stars. And, I recommend it to readers 12 years old and above. There is a lot to learn from this book.

NOTE The above review is also found in Books for All Seasons.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews

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