Today's Book 06/04/2012

• Jacobson, Jennifer Richard. SMALL AS AN ELEPHANT

  Jacobson, Jennifer Richard. SMALL AS AN ELEPHANTSomerville, MA : Candlewick Press, 2011IL 5-8, RL 6.3ISBN 0763641553Imagine you’re 11 years old. You’ve had a long car ride with your mother to a Maine camp ground and during the trip the two of you argue over a stop at a wild animal park to see an elephant. Now imagine you wake up the next day at the campground to find your mother, her car and all the camping gear gone. This is the situation Jack Martel finds himself in. He figures she’s probably just moved all their stuff to another campsite, so he sets out to enjoy himself…alone. But as time goes by and despite his efforts to contact his mom, there’s still no sign of her, and Jack grows increasingly afraid other campers will discover he’s been abandoned. He finds some comfort in a small, plastic elephant he has in his possession; it’s a reminder of a trip with his mother to the circus when he was four. Jack’s mother has a history of mental illness while Jack has an obsession with elephants. He loves his mother, in spite of her erratic behavior. When Jack realizes he won’t be able to find his mother, he decides to return to his home in Boston, and in need of food and shelter starts to make his way south. (Booktalk written by Suzanne Wall-GSF Committee/Merrimack Public Library)

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