LitPick Review
Evolution Revolution: Simple Machines is a story of a highly intelligent squirrel, Jack, and his mission to save his forest. Machines have been cutting down trees across the road from Jack's home for weeks. One day the machines cross the road and start taking down Jack's forest. Jack must think of a way to save his forest and all his friends. He meets with a friendly human in a wheelchair and learns that the wheels in the big, scary machines can be stopped by jamming rocks in them.
One night after dark, Jack and all of his animal friends (the beavers, the foxes, all the other squirrels, plus a pack of sewer rats who are ready to chew up wires, seats, and other things) take their stand. They build dams around the machines, destroy the seats, chew through the wiring in the engine, and the rats even find little tubes to chew through that make the tires deflate. But will it be enough to stop the humans from destroying the forest?
Opinion:
Evolution Revolution: Simple Machines is a story that portrays animals as smarter than they might be in real life but shows that preserving wildlife is important. I enjoyed the fact that the story was set up in an easy way to read and used simple vocabulary. I would recommend this book to readers ages 8-12. It was easy to see the story from the perspective of the forest animal characters.
I look forward to reading the rest of Charlotte Bennardo’s books about Jack the squirrel and his friends. This book is very well-written and is worth being read over and over again. I think that Charlotte should write more of a story about the owl in her story because she seems interesting. Don't squirrel this story away; read it and keep it at heart. Enjoy!
