Lizard Love [Hardcover]

Wendy Townsend (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2008 | Age Level: 11 and up | Grade Level: 6 and up

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.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 6–9—Grace's story opens with a brief idyllic episode in her seventh summer spent with her grandparents in the rural Midwest. She wholly immerses herself in the natural beauty and wonder of her surroundings, beginning a lifelong love of frogs, lizards, and snakes. The narrative soon shifts forward to Grace's eighth-grade year in New York City, where her mother's graduate work and teaching have taken them. Grace's hatred of urban life and difficulty in adjusting to a school where she feels freakish intensify the pain of adolescence. She stumbles upon a pet shop called Fang and Claw, and soon she's helping Pops and his son, Walter, with the care of the marvelous creatures, including Spot, a gorgeous iguana that Grace adores on sight and takes home. A long-awaited summer return to Mooresville disappoints her: the countryside is being ruined by suburban sprawl, her grandparents are slowing down, and her body is betraying her with embarrassing developments. Upon returning to New York, she feels as alien in her own skin as the displaced tropical lizards and snakes she favors. Grace ultimately begins to shape her environment so she can thrive and to value those special people like Walter who appreciate her. Nicely characterized, showing keen awareness of the young teen experience, and written to reveal the reptilian world in colorful detail, the story is an obvious fit for animal lovers, particularly those who delight in the cold-blooded variety. All readers will come to understand Grace's fancy for these creatures even if they don't share her lizard love. A worthwhile choice for young folks shedding the skin of childhood.—Suzanne Gordon, Peachtree Ridge High School, Suwanee, GA
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From Booklist

*Starred Review* Grace, who has moved from Mooresville, Indiana, to Manhattan, is having trouble adjusting. She misses the trappings of her grandparents’ farm; the dank, muddy creek bottom; and the treetops, lit by lightning bugs—and she misses the birds and bullfrogs who were her friends. When Grace discovers the Fang & Claw, a pet store specializing in reptiles, she finds in it something that feels like home. Soon Grace is spending every day after school helping Pops and his son, Walter, and she even adopts Spot, an iguana. But as she begins to enjoy her growing sense of stability, her maturing body brings unwanted attention that throws her for a loop once again. In her debut novel, Townsend displays a remarkable narrative gift. Though her images remain a little static when she’s describing urban things, her language really comes alive when talking about the the natural world; her sensuous herpetological descriptions are unflinching, evocative, and positively elegant. Even the minor characterizations are full and complex, and the relationships drawn among them resonate with the honesty of adolescence. Though Grace’s naïveté seems surprising at first, this story will still find a very enthusiastic audience among young people, especially outsiders, walking the daily tightrope between fitting in and growing up. Grades 6-12. --Thom Barthelmess

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 11 and up
  
• Hardcover: 196 pages
• Publisher: Front Street Press (April 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1932425349
• ISBN-13: 978-1932425345
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.7 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,698,030 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Fantastic New book for Middle Graders, April 7, 2008

By 

SZAA "Lover of All Things Written" (Virginia) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Lizard Love (Hardcover)

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. :-)

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An utterly magical book, May 12, 2008

By 

J. DAVIDSON (New York, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Lizard Love (Hardcover)

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...