How the Snake Lost Its Legs the leopard/elephant/camel got its spots/trunk/hump". Held's ability to captivate the reader's imagination compares to the mischievousness of Kipling's pourquoi stories," but the reader, "is also encouraged to extrapolate from general principles by the constant reminder that animals use a conserved set of developmental genes to construct their bodies." Martin finds evo-devo fascinating, "inherently colorful and well placed to fulfill the dual goal of etiological myths: explaining origins and causes while also stirring imagination and awe. Overall, the latest opus by Lewis Held Jr. fits that niche nicely, and shines by its ability to span essential concepts and empirical work with
How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild, and Got a Life from crap'. My books are not crap." McCafferty noted that she was insulted by an opinion letter published in "The New York Times" in which one writer wrote that teen books are "undemanding literature for undemanding readers." "There's so much good writing for teenagers now," she said. "People make across the board judgments." How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild, and Got a Life How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild, and Got a Life is a young adult novel by Kaavya Viswanathan, who wrote it just after she graduated from high school. Its 2006 debut was highly publicized while