Beaver Girl

by Cassie Premo Steele

The main character of Beaver Girl is Livia, a 19-year-old girl who has been through a pandemic and climate collapse. She wakes in her house to wildfires that are encroaching upon her neighborhood, and she goes into a nearby forest, Congaree National Park, to try to escape the wildfires. There she befriends a beaver family. The reader learns about beavers as a keystone species for our environment. For example, most of Texas and New Mexico, which we think of as desert areas now, were lush green forests before the Europeans got rid of all the beavers for the fur trade. Beavers create these wetland areas, and even after an individual family has moved on those beaver ponds become part of the water table, which can help us during times of drought in later years. The novel has elements of a morality tale that shows what we have done to help bring about climate disaster. It is also set in a post-apocalyptic time and shows what beavers and humans could do together to restore faith and strength and a sense of family and community.

260 pages, Paperback

Published November 15, 2023

Reviews

[Alison Zak · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beaver Girl is the novel 'beaver believers' have been waiting for. Premo Steele has written an incredibly thoughtful fictionalized account of the relationship between a human and a beaver family that represents beavers' broader positive impacts not only for our degraded yet resilient landscapes, but also for our tender human spirits.

[Skylar]

there’s a lot to like here. the author’s descriptive prose is beautiful. the characters are charming enough that i was rooting for them. i can feel how much love and passion went into this story. i think what fell most flat for me was the lack of momentum. very little actually happens in the story. i think some of the powerful moments would have felt a lot more impactful if the reader really lived through the characters’ struggles alongside them and saw how the grew and changed instead of jumping in at what felt like the end of their arcs.

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lovely, important story about survival, maturation, and unexpected connections as humans and animals face bigger threats from the natural and human-contaminated world.

[James Heinz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beaver Do What?

I did not give this 5 stars because it is not 1 of the greatest novels of all times. It is a novel certainly worth reading And I gained so much knowledge Of how beavers operate. I did perceive the author's understanding that males Are not innately good creatures But they can be rehabilitated by strong women. All and all it was a very enjoyable read. Thank you for this piece of art.

[Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

A thrilling read and an important message for our shared future. Must read!