A Snake Falls to Earth

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!