Samantha van Leer does a fantastic job in writing this opening chapter in the Extraterrestrial Zoo series. The characters were everything that I was looking for and thought the plot was everything that I wanted. The concept was everything that I was looking for and enjoyed the feel of this series. It worked well and was written perfectly, I’m excited to read more from Samantha van Leer.

"The Extraterrestrial Zoo" is a middle grade science fiction novel by Samantha van Leer. Alien eggs start arriving on Earth every year and the government needs a place to keep them. They create a "zoo" for the public to see the aliens (or ELBs: extraterrestrial living beings) and Ava's mom and dad meet while running it and Ava (our main character) is born into a life of caring for the ELBs. Ava can't imagine any life besides taking care of the ELBs. Her mother died years ago in a car crash and soon afterward her father disappeared, so it is just Ava and her uncle Pete. When a hurricane breaks open the enclosures and the ELBs escape, the government starts killing them. Can Ava save the ELBs? Lots of twists in the plot and a theme of learning how to be a friend. A recommended purchase where middle grade sci fi is popular.