As an author, naturalist, and adventurer, National Book Award finalist Sy Montgomery has traveled the world and encountered some of the planet's rarest and most beautiful animals. This memoir reflects on the personalities and quirks of thirteen animals she has known. It also explores vast themes: the otherness and sameness of people and animals; the various ways we learn to love and become empathetic; how we create families; how we cope with loss and despair; and, most of all, how we can choose to be a good creature in the world.