A Plague of Frogs

Unraveling an Environmental Mystery

2002
Author:

William Souder

An alarming account of the effects of environmental degradation-now in paperback for the first time!

A Plague of Frogs is an ecological detective story, one that begins when a class of middle schoolers discovers an unusual number of deformed frogs in a pond on a southern Minnesota farm in 1995. William Souder spins a gripping tale of scientific investigation, environmental debate, and the frightening implications of what these deformed frogs mean for humanity.

William Souder manages to make frogs as interesting to the reader as they are to the scientists who study them. This is a superb account of a disturbing environmental happening, which finally leaves us wondering, as scientists do, over its larger implications.

New York Times Book Review

A Plague of Frogs is an ecological detective story, one that begins when a class of middle schoolers discovers an unusual number of deformed frogs in a pond on a southern Minnesota farm in 1995. William Souder spins a gripping tale of scientific investigation, environmental debate, and the frightening implications of what these deformed frogs mean for humanity.


William Souder is an award-winning journalist who has written for some of the nation’s largest newspapers. He covered the story of Minnesota’s deformed frogs for the Washington Post. He lives in Stillwater, Minnesota.

William Souder manages to make frogs as interesting to the reader as they are to the scientists who study them. This is a superb account of a disturbing environmental happening, which finally leaves us wondering, as scientists do, over its larger implications.

New York Times Book Review

All the frustrations that made A Civil Action such a good story are here; the possibilities are equally terrifying.

Los Angeles Times Book Review

Souder not only chronicles this great tragedy in fine prose, but gives readers a clear and engaging portrait of scientists trying to solve an environmental puzzle.

Globe and Mail (Toronto)