Sara Dykman is amazing. I can’t even imagine riding a bike to Michoacan Mexico and then back across the U.S. to Canada, but I can understand her love of Monarch Butterflies. Her quest to document their migration is important, because their habitat is being eliminated. As she traveled and gave talks to schools and to everyone who invited her to speak, she also talked one on one to homeowners and landowners explaining how important milkweed is to the next generation of the Monarch. In this book there is a combination of scientific data and personal stories of the people she met on this journey. I believe we can all do something to help. Personally, I don’t use pesticides, and let my lawn go to save water and let dandelions and other native plants grow. Sadly, my neighbor and I have noticed the disappearance of frogs and toads which used to be abundant 20 years ago in our town. My own Monarch interaction story happened last year when I went to get into the car and right next to the drivers side door on the floor of the garage was a female Monarch. I haven’t seen one where I live, and how it got into my garage was a mystery. I got a piece of paper and picked her up and placed her on a bush outside in the sun where she started warming up and stretching her wings. I found out later that a woman friend had died that day. Maybe her spirit came to say goodbye in the form of a butterfly. ( )

I took a chance on a friend’s recommendation and was richly rewarded. Read my full review here. ( )

4.5 stars. This bookcover caught my eye and then I thought, "No way can anyone bike this!" I then realized why I had to read this book, when I thought "No way can a butterfly fly this many miles!" Butterflies are amazing, but they do not fly round-trip. They eat, fly, lay eggs, and die. However, there are some generations of Monarchs that do fly many thousands of miles to places they have never been. I learned so much from this book. Sara Dykman is a biologist and a bicyclist. Her trip was to raise awareness and to educate others along the way. She shares her mistakes and luck and her adventure. I enjoyed the whole book! ( )

What an amazing story of a very strong woman on a 10,201 mile bike ride following the monarch butterfly migration from Mexico to Canada and back. I know more about monarchs and their habitats than I may have needed to know. The scientific detail and explanations were very detailed. I found her personal stories about her on the road adventures a bit more engaging. And, I will plant milkweed in my spring garden from now on. This was a book club chosen book. The resulting discussion was very informative and inspiring. ( )

Bikes, pollinators, prairie, nature science ... this book is very much in my sweet spot. It follows a long bicycle tour tracing the route of one year's Monarch migration, from Mexico into Canada and back. There are some beautiful passages and insights here, and even the descriptions of bicycle touring, which, as much as I love it, can sometimes be a bit tedious to read about, are handled well here. You get the spirit and feel of the activity without getting bogged down in the minutia of turn-by-turn and minute-by-minute travel. The discussions of monarch and milkweed biology, and their heartbreaking decline due to modern farming practices and neglect, are the most compelling and important part of this book. Recommended.

"Together, many monarchs render a migration. Together, many miles create an adventure. Together, many gardens produce solutions. Our collective voices add up to change. As long as there are adventurer takers, solution makers change instigators and migrants, our actions together equal hope." ( )