Pssst! - Adam Rex

Harcourt, 2007
$16.00
Rating: 4
Endpapers: zoo map in lt. brown, lt. green & lt. rust
Clever title page - info is incorporated into a NYC subway station illustration

Jacketflap: "What happens when a bunch of animals have been cooped up too long? Pssst! You're about to find out."

A girl goes to the zoo, where animals repeatedly get her attention to ask for something. Every 2-3 pages there's a conversation between her and a different animal. These pages are divided into six boxes with graphic-novel-type conversations taking place.

Their requests are interesting but make sense - the gorilla needs new tires - his tire swing broke. The bats need flashlights - the hippo in their cave can't see. And so on. And she's good...she figures out how to grant all their requests - phew! But, there's a great surprise twist at the end. And you realize that if you'd thought about the jacket flap a little more, you would have guessed something was going to happen!