conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Do you know a description for a book titled The End of the Wild about Fern, Toivo, STEM with the genre: Children's Books, Growing Up & Facts of Life?
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: Gr 57Eleven-year-old Fern has more responsibilities than most children her age. Since the deaths of her mother and baby sister in a car crash two years earlier, she has lived with her stepfather, Toivo, and her two younger brothers. Fern works hard to help keep her poor family together. Toivo, a veteran of the Iraq War, has been unemployed since losing his job as a mechanic, and although he does odd jobs to support his family, he drinks too much and it's a struggle to keep food on the table. Fern is central to the family's success. Their house is surrounded by a forest, which Fern treasures as both sanctuary and food basket. The woods are where she gathers ingredients to make dishes from her mother's recipe book, several of which are included in the novel. Fern has good friends, including her closest companion, Alkomso Isak, who wears a hijab, and she deeply respects her science teacher, Mr. Flores. Fern is struggling to select a project for the school's STEM fair when she discovers that her beloved woods are being considered as a wastewater pond for a fracking company. It is an especially complicated issue for Fern. Her grandfather, one of the town's wealthiest men, actively disapproves of Toivo and supports the frackers. To Toivo, the fracking company's arrival means he may be able to obtain a secure job. But as Fern learns more about the threat of environmental disruption, she decides on her STEM project and develops an unlikely friendship with a neighbor. Although some of the dialogue is improbable, this is an excellent book for readers interested in exploring a complex contemporary environmental issue. Fern is a likable character who is, in her words, figuring out "what kind of adult do I want to be." A worthy goal. VERDICT A strong addition on a timely and important topic.Shelley Sommer, Inly School, Scituate, MA
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Do you know the first three paragraphs for this book?
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: The End of the Wild
  A wild pack of family dogs yaps along Millner's property fence. One's got black ears pointed upward. Another dog, short and squat, has brown ears down long. He keeps his nose high, so his ears don't drag on the ground.
  One dog has nubs where his ears should be. And another, a mottled terrier that licks his nether regions, has one ear northwest and one ear southeast. An ugly pup, spotty and short-furred, has a wood tick the size of a dime attached to the side of his eye. A few regular-sized canines of other dog colors scratch their ears and bite away chunks of mud from between their toes. They bark at me and make a tetchy racket.
  In total, they're a gang of eight or nine canines belonging to our neighbor, Horace Millner, who is a killer.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Delete the last sentence.
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: The End of the Wild
  A wild pack of family dogs yaps along Millner's property fence. One's got black ears pointed upward. Another dog, short and squat, has brown ears down long. He keeps his nose high, so his ears don't drag on the ground.
  One dog has nubs where his ears should be. And another, a mottled terrier that licks his nether regions, has one ear northwest and one ear southeast. An ugly pup, spotty and short-furred, has a wood tick the size of a dime attached to the side of his eye. A few regular-sized canines of other dog colors scratch their ears and bite away chunks of mud from between their toes. They bark at me and make a tetchy racket.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Do you know four more paragraphs?
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: Alkomso and I stare at Mark-Richard's old place for a while longer. Near the woodpile, I see a neat stack of branches. I remember what Mark-Richard told me about having to find more firewood for winter. Looks like he collected those branches before the fire. For some reason, it makes my heart hurt.
  When we pass our house, I notice that Toivo's truck is gone. I wonder where he went. Usually when he hunts, he simply walks out into Millner's woods.
  We wait. The first thing I notice is the crooked snowplow. As the pickup gets closer, my head gets hotter and hotter.
  The boys make binoculars out of their hands and fingers and peer into the grove. Then they kick through the snow and toward the trees.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Delete the last sentence.
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: Alkomso and I stare at Mark-Richard's old place for a while longer. Near the woodpile, I see a neat stack of branches. I remember what Mark-Richard told me about having to find more firewood for winter. Looks like he collected those branches before the fire. For some reason, it makes my heart hurt.
  When we pass our house, I notice that Toivo's truck is gone. I wonder where he went. Usually when he hunts, he simply walks out into Millner's woods.
  We wait. The first thing I notice is the crooked snowplow. As the pickup gets closer, my head gets hotter and hotter.
  The boys make binoculars out of their hands and fingers and peer into the grove.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Do you know the last four paragraphs?
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: For Fern's family, the presence of a fracking site has an immediate impact on her family because it threatens to clear an area she relies upon for food to make room for a wastewater pond. For her family, foraging is a necessity, not a precious or quaint hobby. For my family, foraging is a fun activity. While you should never, ever eat anything from the wild unless you and an informed adult have done enough research to make absolutely certain what you find is safe and won't make you sick, exploring the natural world and learning about the bounty of edibles out there is something I wish American children experienced more.
  I'm deeply concerned by how profit-seeking businesses can distance us from understanding how the natural world works, or worse, destroy it completely. A close connection to the plants, animals, bugs, soil, and water helps us appreciate our role on the planet and be more respectful of it. You cannot spend a day in the woods or at the river without being deeply humbled by the awesomeness of nature. And you cannot spend a day in the wild without becoming just a little bit smarter than you were before. The original teacher is out there.
  We must bring our children back to the trees. We must get right with our environment. We can't make informed decisions about food, water, or energy from a position of ignorance.
  Too many people insist upon pitting economy and environment against each other, as though each being healthy at the same time is not possible. I disagree. We can do better. We just have to want to.