If you’d told me I’d be sobbing over a book about reptiles and amphibians in the Florida swamps, I wouldn’t have believed you– but here we are. Told from the perspective of eleven year old Billie Rae and two of the animals in her care, Bell nails the voices of these creatures stuck in cages all day at a southern petting zoo. As Billie Rae grapples with family and the complicated way it affects her everyday life, the animals deal with being listless and lonely in captivity. One little lizard changes everything, showing that even the smallest of friends can make the biggest difference.