̶Handsdown one of the most beautiful books of the year.” —NPRANew York TimesBestsellerBarnes & Noble Book of the YearBeloved author Aimee Nezhukumatathil's celebrated work of nonfiction, now including additional essays and illustrations.As a child, Nezhukumatathil called many places home: the grounds of a Kansas mental institution, where her Filipina mother was a doctor; the open skies and tall mountains of Arizona, where she hiked with her Indian father; and the chillier climes of western New York and Ohio. But no matter where she was transplanted—no matter how awkward the fit or forbidding the landscape—she was able to turn to our world’s fierce and funny creatures for guidance.̶What the peacock can do,” she tells us, ̶is remind you of a home you will run away from and run back to all your life.” The axolotl teaches us to smile, even in the face of unkindness; the touchmenot plant shows us how to shake off un