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The Hop
Sharelle Byars Moranville (2012) , 0 pages
The stories of a toad trying to save his tiny patch of home from a terrifying bulldozer and a girl trying to save her grandmother's pond from being bulldozed into a strip mall are beautifully intertwined in this charming and well-written modern fairytale. Tad is a young hopper who is sent on a quest to do the only thing possible (and the most disgusting thing imaginable) to save his homeland: kiss a human girl. Taylor is a human girl struggling to find a way to stop the commercial developers who have purchased the property next to her grandmother's home from destroying the habitat by paving it over completely. This book is fast-paced and action-packed, and manages to make serious points about environmentalism, loss, and love amidst the magical realism and fantasy. It would be a great title for Earth Day and for classroom read-alouds, as the adventure, told from Tad and Taylor's alternating perspectives, will keep kids on the edge of their seats until the very last page.
Reviewed by Gigi