Book Review: THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM by Holly Goldberg Sloan

 

After reading COUNTING BY 7'S  a few years ago, I was excited to read this latest middle grade book from author Holly Goldberg Sloan. It was an absolute gem! And since we are focusing on "Alive Settings"...it doesn't get much better than an elephant living in the neighborhood.

My review for this book appears after the blurb below, just in time for Children's Book Week!

Here's the blurb from the publisher:

It's been almost a year since Sila's mother traveled halfway around the world to Turkey, hoping to secure the immigration paperwork that would allow her to return to her family in the United States.

The long separation is almost impossible for Sila to withstand. But things change when Sila accompanies her father (who is a mechanic) outside their Oregon town to fix a truck. There, behind an enormous stone wall, she meets a grandfatherly man who only months before won the state lottery. Their new alliance leads to the rescue of a circus elephant named Veda, and then to a friendship with an unusual boy named Mateo, proving that comfort and hope come in the most unlikely of places.

A moving story of family separation and the importance of the connection between animals and humans, this novel has the enormous heart and uplifting humor that readers have come to expect from the beloved author of Counting by 7s.

Here's my review:

Sloan has written a story of hope and patience, teaching us that when we reach out to others with love and kindness, we get back so much more than we ever expected. Animals have a great deal to teach us about the important things in life. This book  is a pure joy to read and hard to put down. It will stay with you for days afterwards. I can picture it on the big screen like THE ONE AND ONLY IVAN. A five-star winner.