Who gives a poop? Surprising science from one end to another by Heather L. Montgomery, illustrated by Iris Gottlieb

  Only Montgomery could start out a book about poop by talking about dissecting the tongue of a roadkilled coyote and end with a philosophical reflection on the disposal of human sewage and bias in science. In other words, it doesn't get much better than this!

This is less a straight-forward narrative and more the following of Montgomery's scientific curiosity as she expands from her interest in roadkill and local science to investigate more about the inner workings of the world. She interviews people in a small town where train cars of human sewage have been left, helps with a wide variety of poop-related research, and pauses frequently along the way to reflect, consider, and take every opportunity for learning more. She becomes discouraged by the seeming futility of science and the sometimes devastating effects of disease; she interviews doctors at opposite ends of the spectrum on the usefulness of parasitic (or are they symbiotic?) internal worms, dissects more roadkill, learns about the possible connections between bacterial infections and internal parasites, and researches the legality of fecal transplants (yeah, it's exactly what it sounds like).

In the end, she returns to the site of her early investigations into the abandoned cars of sewage and finally gets an interview with the manager of the landfill they're headed for. She's got a different viewpoint than when she started, and in thoughtful, beautiful prose she considers the symbiosis of the world and the need for considering our own biases in conducting research.

There appears to be one typo on page 149, where she references the landfill owner pointing at a game trail but doesn't say what the animal is that he sees. The author's note talks about her own bias and includes a teachable moment on reading and researching science. There are poop experiments to try out yourself, more fun facts about poop, a goofy and informative list of "wonderful waste words" and then detailed notes about the research on each chapter. She mentions that the detailed list of works cited can be found on her website. There are also acknowledgements and and an index.

Verdict: Of course you'll want to hand this to kids who delight in poop, roadkill, and all things gross and gruesome in the science world, but also encourage readers interested in science, those concerned about the environment, and pretty much everyone. Because everyone poops.

ISBN: 9781547603473; Published September 2020 by Bloomsbury; Purchased for the library