Didn't finish. While deciding whether to keep plugging away I saw a review with an unhidden spoiler and became even less interested. I think it might be pretty good, but my 14 yo son did get through it and he said 3 stars and told me not to bother to try again to finish it. ( )

A very fine book about relationships between friends, relationships between humans and other animals, relationships between children and adults. This is also a book about the way we relate to our own self, and choose and grow inside. I found Nickel an interesting person, both unique and believable. ( )

Nickel is an unusual boy. His head is always in the clouds, so he's constantly walking into things. He spends much of his free time photographing clouds, which he sees as animals. He describes the people he knows as animals, too. Sixto, who runs the newstand "had big black circles around his eyes and wore the same white vest over the same black shirt every day. He was a panda." (p. 10) He thinks of himself as a bush baby because he has oversized eyes, a pointy nose and perky ears. Nickel also has an unusual pet, a kangaroo rat that he found in the city. He takes "Miriam" with him almost everywhere and talks to her as if she were a person. HIs best friend is Inez, a classmate and neighbor. She is smart and tough, always telling Nickel the honest truth.
On the day he meets Mr. Beastly of the Beastly Arms, he knows he's found a kindred spirit. Mr. Beastly has a real affinity for animals, just like Nickel. He talks his Mom into renting a room from the elder eccentric, then discovers something rather strange about the other renters.
I liked the unusual characters in the city, Nickel's photographic perspective of friends and neighbors and Mr. Beastly's philosophy. I especially relate to Nickel and his love of animals. It always seems to shock people, especially kids, when you tell them humans are animals, too. We are and we would do well to remember this. Sometimes we humans behave worse than the animals we look down upon. This is a novel for readers who like slightly quirky characters and mystery and an environmental theme. ( )