Wednesday, January 14, 2015

Trash Mountain by Jane Yolen (Author), Chris Monroe (Illustrator)


Nutley wants to hang out with the gray squirrels.  He's a young red squirrel and his parents tell him to stay away.  They warn him they're dangerous.  But the call of hazel nuts is strong and he just wants to have someone to play with.  When they beat him up, he goes home to sulk.  But that's just the start of his troubles.

Lerner Publishing Group and Net Galley allowed me to read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published April 1st, so make a note to look for it then.

I've read several books by Jane Yolen, so I had to take a look at this one.  I was not disappointed.

Nutley comes home one day to find their family tree under attack by the gray squirrels.  When they leave and he can approach the tree, he finds his parents didn't survive the attack.  Now what's he to do?

He takes refuge in the local landfill and soon learns he's in a new world.  First thing that happens is that the rat neighborhood warns him to stay out of their territory.  Then he finds a seagull that needs aid and helps her out.  He finds his own spot to hide and then all he needs is food.  He can find bits and pieces but the nuts across the street call him.  The only problem with that is that the gray squirrels are there, too, and come after him.

I liked the fact that the animals that Nutley had helped come to help him, too.  His new life is scary but he has friends.  And when they all work together, the gray squirrels get defeated.  That's a  good life lesson.

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