"In Appalachian Summer, Bonta watches the "waltzing" of a southern red-backed vole, the mating of eastern box turtles, and the stalking of a nest of house wrens by a black rat snake. She chronicles the life histories of fishers, woodchucks, jumping mice, and star-nosed moles, and she has frequent close encounters with black bears, eastern coyotes, red and gray foxes, raccoons, porcupines, white-tailed deer, and fox squirrels."--BOOK JACKET. "Another important event in this Appalachian summer is the disappearance of a local girl, and Bonta poses questions about the safety of women in the woods. Do women stay out of the woods because they fear attack by men, or wild creatures and the unknown? Should they have such fears? Bonta's examination of these fears brings to mind the relationship between humans and nature - how, as we continue to encroach upon the wilderness around us, we are faced with increasingly more difficult decisions about our interactions with the natural world."--BOOK JACKET.