by Dashka Slater
First sentence: “One night in June 2023, someone approached a small park in San Francisco carrying bunnies.”
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Review copy pilfered from the ARC shelves at work.
Content: It’s pretty simple text and dotted throughout with illustrations. It’s in the Middle Reader NonFiction section of the bookstore.

This sweet little Middle Grade Nonfiction book covers the summer when a neighborhood in San Francisco came together to rescue domesticated bunnies that were dumped in a neighborhood park. It’s simply told – it is for younger readers, after all – but it’s a compelling story about passionate people doing things together. It follows a group of kids who formed The Bunny Club to look for them, as well as a teenager who was in the right place at the right time to catch a couple, and adults, including one who started a bunny rescue organization.

I learned a lot reading this – from how to catch bunnies to the reasons why domesticated bunnies really don’t survive well in the wild. The most astonishing fact was the overrunning of bunnies in Australia because some English guy wanted to hunt them, so his friend brought them over. It was simply told, but incredibly engaging – it reads like a fiction story, although it’s not. It’s simple without being simplistic, and appropriate for younger readers without talking down to them.

A surprisingly good book.