Lizard Love

By Wendy Townsend

Book Overview

A startling debut novel about a girl growing into a woman, kicking and screaming every step of the way. Grace's life was perfect in Mooresville at her grandparents' home. Nature was close at hand, and she could explore it endlessly. But Grace and her mother move to New York City, where nature has been paved over and left to die. Grace hates the city and all it represents . . . until she discovers a pet shop run by a toad-ugly boy and his father and which is full of exotic creatures, none more so than Spot, an iguana. Grace spends every minute she can at the pet shop, especially as she realizes that she doesn't fit in at school and she can't stand the city streets where men and boys are starting to notice her. Grace doesn't like what's happening to her body and the attention it's drawing. Even when she goes back to Mooresville for a summer break, she discovers that things aren't the same. So there is nothing to be done except return to the city and confront who she is, what she is becoming, and deal with it. "I looked up into the dark gold eye of a big lizard, calmly looking back at me. I caught my breath he was the most wonderful creature I could ever imagine. He had a great spiky crest and a black-banded tail hanging down and scales around his head and shoulders like jewels of all different sizes and shades of green, turquoise and bronze. One of his feet draped over the edge and each long toe had a curved claw at the tip. I slid my hands underneath his body and took him in my arms. His tail went down past my waist. He flicked my cheek with his tongue and I put my face closer to his and breathed in." FROM THE BOOK"

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1932425349
• ISBN13: 9781932425345
• Release Date: April 2008
• Publisher: Front Street
• Length: 168 Pages
• Weight: 0.57 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.3" x 1.0" x 5.8"
• Age Range: 9 to 12 years
• Grade Range: Grades 4 to 7

Customer Reviews

An utterly magical book

I'm a great animal-lover and also an avid reader of young-adult fiction, so I knew as soon as I heard about this book that I'd like it. Turns out it's extraordinarily beautifully written--a modest and understated debut that utterly delighted me. It may be that it's a little too low-key to make it onto the gatekeepers' radar, but this is the kind of book that should be winning the big prizes in children's literature! In the meantime I am going to get a couple more copies so I can press it into the hands of friends who will love it...

A Fantastic New book for Middle Graders

Once I picked up this book, I could not put it down. Maybe it was because it was filled with reptiles and in my house, reptiles are animals to love (and spend lots of money on). Maybe it was because the lead character grabbed my heart from the first page and didn't let go, even once I shut the book on the last word. Or maybe it's because this author has an exceptional talent, one for writing a book that allows the reader to enter the world she has created, and never want to leave. Lizard Love, written by Wendy Townsend, is time in the life of Grace. The young girl lives in Mooresville, a back country town that she has lived in all of her life and absolutely loves. She is friends with the wilderness and cherishes the time she gets to spend with her beloved grandparents. When her mother gets a job in New York City and Grace is forced to move to a cement jungle, she is lost. Her heart was left behind and she feels completely hopeless, until she accidentally happens upon a pet store specializing in exotics, mainly reptiles. At Fang & Claw, amidst the snakes, monitors, and lizards, Grace finds herself again. She falls in love with her new environment and just maybe in Walter, the son of the pet store owner. This was a fairy tale of a book. I loved reading about all of the reptiles that Grace encountered, especially since my own hubby works part-time in an exotic pet store where I have also had the experience of meeting the awesome reptiles she describes. Don't knock them unless you know them! Reptiles are not typical "book" animals and I loved that they made huge appearances in Lizard Love. Grace's relationship with Walter, as well as with Spot, a huge iguana are touching and real. The writing is beautifully done and I certainly hope we hear from from Wendy Townsend. Though the publisher classifies the book in the age range of 14 and up, I really believe this is perfectly appropriate for the older juveniles out there as well. I would almost say 10 and up would be fine. There is some talk of turning into a woman and growing breasts, but no other matter that would make this novel in-appropriate for that age level. Again, I loved the book and I demand that all of you out there go read it. Especially if you are not a reptile lover...I guarantee your mind will change after reading this. :-)