A Snake Falls to Earth by Darcie Little Badger

Nina is a Lipan girl in our world. She's always felt there was something more out there. She still believes in the old stories. Oli is a cottonmouth kid, from the land of spirits and monsters. Like all cottonmouths, he's been cast from home. He's found a new one on the banks of the bottomless lake. Nina and Oli have no idea the other exists. But a catastrophic event on Earth, and a strange sickness that befalls Oli's best friend, will drive their worlds together in ways they haven't been in centuries. And there are some who will kill to keep them apart. Darcie Little Badger introduced herself to the world with Elatsoe. In A Snake Falls to Earth, she draws on traditional Lipan Apache storytelling structure to weave another unforgettable tale of monsters, magic, and family. It is not to be missed.

I don't think I was the ideal audience for this book so I'm rating it for what it is.

It's a bit juvenile and cute, it's filled with endearing characters and simple morals. If you're looking for a cute fantasy type book for a young teen I would warmly recommend it, if you're looking for something fairly simple to keep your mind off of something for a couple of hours this book could also be a good pick.

I had such a wonderful time with this story! I alternated between the ebook and audiobook, both borrowed from the library. Other than some swearing, the story is suitable for all ages.

The two POV characters are Nina and Oli. Nina lives in our world. Oli lives in a connected world of animal people. Nina is a girl. Oli is a cottonmouth snake person. Nina is on a quest to translate a story her great-great grandmother told her on her deathbed. Oli, when we meet him, is looking for a place to call home.

Oli finds a near perfect place, and lots of good friends, as well. His best friend is a toad named Ami. When a species goes extinct in our world, they second and die in this other world. One day Ami becomes sick, and Oli decides to travel to our world in order to discover why and save his friend.

The book contains a villain, and there's some violence, and a lot of discussions of natural disasters. But at the center of the book is friendship, and kindness, and sacrificing for someone you love, and that's what I enjoyed the most. What opened the most doors for Oli, what brought him the most help, was simply saying he wanted to help his friend.

There are lots of great characters, with possibly the stars being coyote sisters, Reign and Risk. Or is it the hawk, Brightest?

I think the author intends there to be more books in the series, and I'll for sure read them!