Just Read

“The Elephant’s Girl” by Celesta Rimington

Kay Goodnight Just Read , , ,

I’ve been pulled toward books featuring animals lately (a pull from my youth). So next up on my “Just Read” books is THE ELEPHANT’S GIRL by Celesta Rimington. Beautifully layered with multiple mysteries, it intrigued me from beginning to end.

The story centers around a Nebraska youth who is the tragic survivor of a tornado that ravaged an area around and through a zoo. She’s found as a toddler after the tornado in the elephant pen, protected from the storm by one of the zoo’s elephants, Nyah. With no memories of her life before the tornado and no trace of a family, she’s raised by her foster father, Roger, the zoo’s train engineer. He names her Lexington Willow.

Lex soon discovers she’s not like the others. For one thing, the wind speaks to her (not always kindly). Also her school mates taunt her as “that elephant girl.” So Lex retreats from their teasing into the comforting familiarity of her zoo.

Now Lex is twelve and the mystery of her past plagues her in more ways than one. She’s finally old enough to help with the training of the elephants. Nyah, her rescuer, seeks her out and sends her a telepathic message about the woods outside the zoo.

Nyah’s message catapults Lex into an adventure that changes her life forever. She meets a forgetful ghost who hints at a long lost treasure. She faces her own fears and ventures beyond the safety zone of her zoo. And she finally solves the mystery of “who is Lex Willow?”

I loved THE ELEPHANT’S GIRL (or I wouldn’t be posting about it). It’s unique and charming and includes a thread featuring THE ISLAND OF THE BLUE DOLPHINS (another favorite book from my past). Within the “Authors Notes” section Rimington includes a substantial list of resources about elephants as well as organizations devoted to protecting these marvelous animals, making this an excellent teaching tool for teachers as well. I’ll hope you’ll read ELEPHANT’S GIRL and enjoy it as much as I did.

Just Read: “The Great Shelby Holmes” by Elizabeth Eulberg

Kay Goodnight Just Read , , , , , ,

I picked up THE GREAT SHELBY HOLMES instantly intrigued by the title character’s name, Shelby Holmes. I’ve been a fan of Sherlock Holmes since, well, forever. The books. The movies. The series. I loved them all. Eulberg perfectly captures all the best (and quirkiest) qualities of Sherlock in plucky nine-year-old Shelby Holmes. Her focus is on solving crimes and her success as a detective has made her a celebrity in the neighborhood and a thorn in Detective Lestrade’s side.

But what “Holmes” would be complete without a “Watson”.

Once again, Eulberg delivers.

John Watson moves in downstairs and is introduced to Shelby when something explodes upstairs (one of Shelby’s experiments, no doubt). John’s mom was in the army, so moving from place to place every couple of years had foster in him a talent for quickly making friends. With school still a few weeks away, John yearns to begin the friend-making process. But the only option so far is Shelby Holmes. And the concept of ‘friendship’ completely eludes Shelby.

When Shelby gets called in on a dog napping case, suddenly the “game is a-foot”. Watson tags along (often clueless but always eager to help). Together they follow the clues, leading them to a solution to the crime and ultimately to a unique friendship.

A wonderfully written story, moves quickly, will hold your interest, and has several laugh-out-loud moments. Established Sherlock Holmes fans will love it, but it will also appeal to and foster a new generation of Conan Doyle fans. (Side note: Shelby owns a dog named Sir Arthur. How great is that!)  

Just Read: “The Girl Who Drank the Moon” by Kelly Barnhill

Kay Goodnight Just Read , , , , , , , , ,

THE GIRL WHO DRANK THE MOON is a middle grade novel by Kelly Barnhill that won the 2017 Newberry Medal. Well deserved, in my opinion.

THE GIRL WHO DRANK THE MOON is the story of a girl, Luna, and the witch who saved her, Xan. It centers around one town’s sad tradition of sacrificing one baby each year to the witch in the woods so that she won’t curse the village. (Reminiscent of “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson.) The villager’s believe in this necessity. The councilmen who implement it do too, but for different reasons. They don’t believe there’s a witch. They do believe that this Day of Sacrifice crushes the spirits of the villagers and allows the council to maintain control.

But the witch does exist, only not the evil one the people imagine. Baffled by the villager’s actions, the witch Xan rescues the children and nourishes them with starlight as she makes the journey to find each baby a home on the other side of the forest. Then one special baby captures the heart of Xan. And when Xan accidently enmagics baby Luna with moonlight instead of starlight, she decides she must raise Luna herself, because an enmagiced child is a dangerous child to herself and to others.

This charming story is brimming over with interesting characters. There are two dragons (who doesn’t like dragons?), one regular size poem-reciting dragon and one “simply enormous” dragon that often sleeps in Luna’s pocket. There’s Antain, the village boy who sees the Day of Sacrifice as a day of horror and decides he must kill the witch to save the children. There’s a madwoman whose paper birds maim, a threatening volcano, and a woman with a tigers heart that prowls the night.

Whew. There’s a lot going on. But Barnhill masterfully weaves the characters, setting, and magical elements of THE GIRL WHO DRANK THE MOON into a well-pace story filled with twists, mystery, magic, and more. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and highly recommend it for middle grade and young adult readers. THE GIRL WHO DRANK THE MOON won’t disappoint.