I am always in the mood for a good story about worthy, hardworking women coming out on top of a bad situation. And THE LAST ANIMAL scratches that itch fully and perfectly. Although Ramona Ausubel has had her fair share of successes, this book surely will put her on the map for a new deluge of readers. It is a fanciful tale grounded in reality but reaching into the heart of a reader with relatable storytelling about the relationships between two sisters, and between mothers and daughters. However, when Ausubel gives us the cutest woolly mammoth in recent literary history, we are her forever fans.

"THE LAST ANIMAL is at times touching and then hilarious, full of information and then silly. Ausubel has a tight rein on how she uses these rises and falls, much like a good Nirvana song does. One follows the other in perfect order."

A family reeling from the death of their patriarch takes a trip to Siberia. Jane and her teenage daughters, Eve and Vera, are accompanied by a bunch of obnoxious scientists. The girls discover the perfectly preserved frozen body of a baby woolly mammoth and bring it to their mom’s attention. Jane works for a group that is trying to take the cells of long-dead animals and reanimate to create a new woolly mammoth. However, when she doesn’t get the proper credit for this discovery, her frustration leads her to take the girls on an unexpected ride.

In order to beat the boys at their own game, Jane takes crazy risks in order to be the first to “de-extinct” the woolly mammoth and secure her place in scientific history. The girls are in and out of excitement at the idea of their mom going rogue, but eventually the adventure takes them over. And off they go on a wild road trip that is a delight to read.

Ausubel has found a great way to combine the complications of climate change and the wonders of the natural world with the difficulties women still face in a field dominated by men. Teenage girls aren’t usually the biggest fans of their moms, but they learn to be as the family struggles under the weight of her quest. The drolly funny conversations of the teens pitted against the panicked yet forceful words of their mother give the novel a quiet but effective energy, resulting in a book that is hard to put down.

THE LAST ANIMAL is at times touching and then hilarious, full of information and then silly. Ausubel has a tight rein on how she uses these rises and falls, much like a good Nirvana song does. One follows the other in perfect order. As we are being swept away by the imaginative possibilities of the quest or brought down to earth by the very real fears of the girls, the story never fails to hold our attention.

There is nothing like a novel that takes you on a rollicking adventure and gives you a heart-healthy dose of sweetness as well. Eve and Vera are great kids, smart and intuitive but also fussy and impatient, preferring to stare at the young lab assistant at first than to take seriously their mother’s work in Siberia. As they become more invested in her wild ride, they also become her biggest cheerleaders and realize that what she is trying to do is both exciting and important for all women. Their support of her, since it takes a while to catch fire, is all the more rewarding and helpful in bringing the family together.

It is a very real topic, the one about women having to strive to be given their due as men consider themselves the top dogs. It also is a very real topic to see how imagination can serve the world, in scientific terms, and extend its life. Will everything work out in the end? Ausubel never makes you think it’s a given that the best will prevail. As with all of her other delightful literary ploys, it plays more to the mysterious than the obvious. In this and so many other ways, THE LAST ANIMAL provides laughs, chills and celebration in equal measure throughout. It is highly recommended to anyone who loves what fiction can do with its most wondrous, creative and heartfelt possibilities.

Ausubel has a total winner here. But please, if there must be an eventual movie made, let it be with her at the helm so as not to mess with its perfection.