   | Something rotten : a fresh look at roadkill Author: Montgomery, Heather L. | |
| Price: $21.88 | ||
Summary:
Vehicle-wildlife collisions kill more than a million animals per day in the U.S. alone. An eye-opening and irreverent look at how the dead and dying animals we pass by are useful for scientific research.
| Illustrator: | O'Malley, Kevin |
| Accelerated Reader Information: Interest Level: MG Reading Level: 6.20 Points: 6.0 Quiz: 197534 | Reading Counts Information: Interest Level: 6-8 Reading Level: 5.50 Points: 9.0 Quiz: 75887 | |
Reviews:
Kirkus Reviews (+) (08/01/18)
School Library Journal (+) (07/01/18)
Booklist (09/01/18)
The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books (00/10/18)
Full Text Reviews:
School Library Journal - 07/01/2018 Gr 4–8—In the same irreverent but well-researched style in Georgia Bragg's How They Croaked, this title offers readers an amusing, thorough overview of dead animals. What most are pleased to leave behind in their rearview mirror as they speed by, scientists appreciate for the data that can be found in these bodies. Readers will be fascinated as Montgomery recounts her adventures discovering how roadkill offers the world information, such as how pentastomes (parasitic crustaceans) are invading the snakes of Florida, thanks to boa constrictors released into the Everglades, and what these parasites mean to the ecosystem. With wry humor, gory detail, and great enthusiasm, the author explains how this mystery, and others, are being solved thanks to civilian scientists who pick up and/or report roadkill sightings to science centers. And then there is taxidermy, the art of turning dead critters into 3-D sculptures for museums or for art. As Montgomery warns at the start, this book is not for the faint of heart ("It's full of lung-eating parasites ropes of intestines, and, of course, bloody bodies."), but be prepared to laugh along the way (chapter six: "Please Pass the Salt") and to learn a lot. VERDICT Sure to be a hit among students. A top addition to STEM collections.—Dorcas Hand, formerly at Annunciation Orthodox School, Houston - Copyright 2018 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.
Booklist - 09/01/2018 Adding new dimension to the notion of recycling, Montgomery relates her own encounters with road-killed animals, sometimes with the explicitness of a trained biologist, while asking researchers and others, “How do you use roadkill?” She introduces readers to curators of “wet” and “dry” natural history museum collections, a New York “rogue taxidermist” who turns specimens into art, workers at a wounded wild animal rehab center, and, yes, a dedicated roadside forager. She also describes how roadkill is put to reuse as compost or zoo food and highlights efforts to cut down on the slaughter with fences and culverts. The author discourages readers from messing with dead creatures, but in context, her admonitions seem rather halfhearted. Though there are (for better or worse) no actual recipes, she does close with suggestions for some reasonably safe projects, as well as heaps of annotated leads to print and online resources. “The book is not,” she writes, “for squeamish souls.” But budding naturalists or eco-activists will find it a smashing read. Finished illustrations not seen. - Copyright 2018 Booklist.
