Chip Martin and his friends Luther and Lily come upon a family of Florida panthers, which are very rare and an endangered species. However, when they tell their parents that a contractor is trying to illegally plow over the panthers' land, nobody believes them. It's up to them to save the last wild place.
Morality
The contractor lied to the owner of the land; he is trying to change into a meatpacking plant. Chip, Luther, and Lily sneak out of their houses against their parents' wishes to try and save their animal friends in any way they can. They attempt to thwart the contractor's efforts (such as sitting in front of the bulldozer and refusing to move).
Spiritual Content
God is not a big part of this story about saving the environment.
Violence
The mother panther kills and eats a chicken. The three kids are constantly reminded towards the end of the book how lucky they are that the panthers did not choose to have them for lunch.
Drug and Alcohol Content
None.
Sexual Content
Chip's sister Kate spends hours with her boyfriend Brad. She says most of the time all they do is talk. Chip's mom and a man named Booker kiss (but they later get married).
Crude or Profane Language or Content
"Darn," nothing worse.
Conclusion
As far as a "save the environment" book goes, this book was pretty enjoyable to read. Besides sabotaging (illegal) construction, the main kids are easy to relate to, and I also enjoyed how Chip (who is white), Luther (who is black), and Lily (who is Asian), were three best friends - not a lot of books have diverse friends at their core.
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