Braver

Starred review from May 15, 2020
Grades 3-6 *Starred Review* Young Lola isn't your average wombat: she's prone to chatter and often sneaks out for neighborly chats with the field mice and local birds. While she tries to tamp down her curiosity and live in harmony with her fellow wombats, she secretly longs for excitement. Her wish is dramatically granted when the entire wombat community, including her parents, are abducted from their cozy burrows while she's sneaking about, and it's up to a distraught but determined Lola to make the perilous journey to seek the queen's help. Lola doesn't remain alone for long, accidentally teaming up with a gentle swamp water rat and a hapless fairy penguin, and the ragtag trio becomes an unlikely heroic team on a crusade for wombat justice. It's a terrifically engaging tale filled with suspense and silliness, and young readers will quickly find themselves absorbed in the marvelously detailed world of the Australian wilderness. There are shades of Brian Jacques' Redwall (1986) here, but it's a much kinder world, and the novel cast of unusual antipodean critters allows the story to work in tidbits of real info about the Australian wildlife (poison platypus spurs! cubic wombat poop!). A page-turner that still manages to impart lessons in the joy of unexpected friendships, the strength of familial bonds, and the satisfaction that can come from embracing your truest self.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)

Starred review from May 1, 2020
A young wombat faces danger and uncertainty in this anthropomorphic animal fantasy. Lola, a wombat joey, lives in the Northern Forest with her wombat parents. But unlike other wombats, Lola loves to talk and is not content with the quiet, stable life of foraging during the night and sleeping during the day. One day, sneaking out of her burrow home to explore, she encounters a messenger-platypus who delivers to her a secret message--but Lola has no idea what it means. Heading back to the burrow, Lola is horrified to discover that Tassie devils have rounded up all the wombats and are carrying them off in a large cage. Lola sees her parents through the bars, and her mother tells her to "Find your uncle!" before they are taken away. As Lola sets off for the royal city of Dore to look for her uncle, she befriends Melvin, a fastidious rat, and Blue, a baby penguin--sterling secondary characters whose quirky personalities add lively originality and exquisite freshness to the story. In the best hero's-journey way, Lola confronts her fears and learns her strengths. The richly imagined, tightly woven, and deliciously nuanced plot is inhabited by animals that live in the real world of Tasmania, and readers will also discover echidnas, pygmy possums, and swamp water rats as they go. Engrossing and engaging--a fabulous hero's quest. (Fantasy. 8-12)

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