Elephant Secret

April 1, 2018

Gr 3-6-Samantha Gray is known as the "elephant girl." She lives with her Dad and takes care of the 11 elephants in her family's sanctuary. Raised close with the herd, Sam's ability to connect with the elephants transcends human understanding. In fact, she bonds and interacts with the elephants much better than she does with other humans; especially with her dad's new girlfriend, Joyce. A new elephant with anger issues arrives at the sanctuary and a beloved elephant gives birth to a baby named Woolly-who is not an elephant, but a woolly mammoth cloned from DNA. Walters' depiction of the bond that exists between Sam and her elephants is captivating. The elephants, who are presented as majestic and intelligent creatures with humanlike characteristics and rich emotional lives, will leave readers awestruck. Sam and her father's relationship is also craftily done, exploring the effects of grief and then the sometimes awkward transition as Sam's dad begins dating. Back matter includes a list of suggested reads about elephants, genetics, and the Ice Age. VERDICT A solid middle school title for those not quite ready for Eliot Schrefer's "Endangered" series but who appreciate heart-tugging human-animal friendship tales.-Stephanie Wilkes, Good Hope Middle School, West Monroe, LA

Copyright 2018 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 1, 2018
Sam, nearly 14, has spent her life living and working with her father on a North American elephant sanctuary. Elephantine changes are brewing.Sam knows how to drive a truck, toss bales of hay, and communicate effectively with elephants. Everything has been wonderful except for the sanctuary's financial struggles, but now an anonymous sponsor has donated a huge sum of money to artificially inseminate three female elephants, and Daisy Mae is carrying a baby. Meanwhile, Sam is uncomfortable to the point of rudeness around impeccably dressed Joyce, her father's lawyer and love interest. Each plotline has something in it to challenge readers. Animal lovers may wince at the Caesarian section that kills Daisy Mae; for feminists, some of the ways in which Sam and Joyce bond may elicit cringes. (Isn't it enough that both of them care deeply about both Jack and the elephants?) Motherless Sam's nurturing of the new elephant orphan adds poignancy. Fascinating elephant information is sometimes awkwardly inserted into dialogue but at other times is gracefully delivered by Sam's direct address to readers. After a stunning revelation almost 200 pages into the book--which nudges the genre toward science fiction--the plot becomes more intriguing. Will the rich, eccentric James Mercury help or hinder Sam and Jack? What will be the fate of Burma, a newly arrived elephant with a history of dangerous behavior? Characters are default white except for one dark-skinned vet. Cliffhangers and elephants will keep readers engaged. (Fiction. 10-12)

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January 1, 2019
Walters's novel centers on thirteen-year-old Samantha, who lives with her dad in an elephant sanctuary. There's plenty of solid information about elephants, and Samantha's rapport with the herd will endear her to animal-lovers. An intriguing twist involving a woolly mammoth cloned from permafrost-harvested DNA raises thought-provoking ethical, emotional, and legal issues; an author's note on the science of cloning insists this is "not science fiction."

(Copyright 2019 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)