Wendy Townsend (The Sundown Rule) convincingly portrays a high school student who spends a life-changing summer caring for endangered blue iguanas on Grand Cayman Island.
Clarice, who narrates, cares so much for animals that she must leave her favorite teacher's biology class rather than dissect a frog. She practices what she preaches: she is vegan and will not wear leather goods. When Clarice decides to spend the summer at the Blue Iguana Recovery Program in the Cayman Islands, readers learn about this unusual habitat right along with Clarice. She describes the rough karst terrain as she accompanies two researchers attempting to find out where a blue iguana named GRG (Green-Red-Green, referring to her markings) has stashed her eggs, the sweltering heat inland, and the smell of the ocean on a windy day. Readers also learn about the lizards' diet, their life expectancy and how many eggs they typically lay. Before her trip, it seemed impossible for Clarice to imagine being a marine biologist and eating fish, as is the case with one of her new friends, but she begins to see there's room for balance and interconnectedness in the world.
Readers will grow to care as much for the blue iguanas as Clarice and the other volunteers do. When tragedy strikes the preserve, it may well feel as devastating to readers as it is for the volunteers. Give this absorbing read to any nature lover. --Jennifer M. Brown, children's editor, Shelf Awareness