This book made me remember the pleasures of exploring natural areas and making discoveries. "Radish" (somewhat more tolerable than his given name) spends this summer at his favorite marsh where he has moved an especially beautiful trout raised at his brother's fish hatchery. He meets an old man, Mr Moon, and they rescue a baby owlet after it's parents are killed. As Radish absorbs the life of the marsh during the day, back home his family is concerned about a developer's plans to drain the marsh, and his brother organizes a community coalition to counteract that.
The book spends more time helping us remember the marsh than it does on environmental activism, which is a good thing. As I finished the book, I did wonder what it would mean to a child raised in a big city who had never seen wildness of any sort. I'm hoping it would call to something inside, but perhaps they would just toss down the book as being too removed from their own lives....Like Mr. Boomer. ( )