The Wolf Keepers by Elise Broach

Lizzie works at the zoo with her dad and it's the perfect life.  She has a summer assignment from school:  Keep a journal like John Muir might have.  Since that's the name of her zoo, it's a fitting assignment.  She wasn't sure about writing but she finds she likes making a journal.  She's talking about the animals mostly.  The wolves are her favorite.  So when the youngest female gets sick, she worries about her.  Her father does, too.  It's a mysterious malady that no one has heard of before...

Macmillan Children's Publishing Group and Net Galley let me read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published October 11th.

Lizzie can eat for free at the zoo and while there having lunch, she sees a young boy steal a tray from the table of a woman with several kids.  She chases and catches him.  He tells her she had more food than her family could eat.  She accuses him of stealing.  As they stare at each other, a security guard shows up.  The boy runs.  The mother yells and the guard says Lizzie didn't steal it, it was just a misunderstanding.

When she next sees the boy, she finds out he's sleeping behind the elephant house.  He only owns a back pack and a ratty blanket.  She finds him again and offers him food and clean quarters.  He doesn't want to trust her but he does need help.  He's a foster kid who has run away.  He's also noticed some strange doings in the zoo after dark.  She tells him he couldn't have seen what he did.  But he did.

Lobo is the big male that makes eye contact with Lizzie and comes to visit her when she stops to write about them outside their cage.  He suddenly gets sick and goes down and Lizzie is heartbroken.  When she and her friend sneak down to let in vet's facility to see how he, she sees the vet inject him!

She decides to get in the truck and see what's she doing with the bodies since she has her buddy with her.  He actually talks her into it.  They have no idea what an adventure they will have and how dangerous it will be.

This book held my attention from beginning to end.  It's very well written, believable, and fun to read.  Why not take a walk at the zoo and see what you see?  At the Alamogordo Zoo a Chihuahua Raven told me his name was Eduardo and the wildcats purred for me.  They know animal people.