The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently announced the launch of a new virtual book club aiming to engage and inspire readers to connect with the outdoors and nature.

“America’s WILD READ” will feature noted ecologist E.O. Wilson’s first novel “Anthill,” the story of a boy whose Huck Finn-inspired summer in rural Alabama teaches him deeper understandings of nature and its most ruthless predators. Readers will also share insights on two related essays. Both essays can be accessed online at AmericasWildLife.org/

WildRead.

The online discussions of the essays and “Anthill” began May 1 and will continue May 15, respectively. Conservation writers Curt Meine and Will Stolzenburg (author of Where the Wild Things Were) and other scholars, poets and an ant expert will moderate the virtual book club organized by the Service’s National Conservation Training Center.

The event will culminate the week of July 10 when the National Wildlife Refuge System unveils its new 10-year vision, Conserving the Future: Wildlife Refuge and the Next Generation.