Elephant Run - Hardcover

Smith, Roland

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1423104021 ISBN 13: 9781423104025

Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2007

Synopsis

In this action-packed WWII-era historical fiction novel, bestselling author Roland Smith introduces an oft-ignored aspect of the conflict with stunning detail. 

The year is 1941, and bombs are being dropped from the night sky, blanketing the city of London. When fourteen-year-old Nick Freestone’s apartment is demolished, his mother decides the situation in England has grown too unstable. Nick will be safer, his mother hopes, living with his father in Burma on the family’s teak plantation. 

Nick arrives at the plantation eager to learn about the timber elephants raised and trained there, and also to spend time with his father. But before he can settle in, trouble erupts in the remote Burmese village. Japanese soldiers invade, and Nick’s father is taken prisoner. Nick is stranded, forced to work as a servant to the new rulers. As life in the village grows more dangerous for Nick and his friend Mya, they plan their daring escape, determined to rescue their families. But to succeed, they will have to brave not only the threat of enemy soldiers, but the dangers of their wilderness journey. 

In this thrilling adventure through the jungles of Burma, Roland Smith explores the far-reaching effects of World War II, while introducing readers to the fascinating world of timber elephants and their mahouts. 

About this title

About the Author

Roland Smith is a former Zoo Curator and Research Biologist, and a New York Times bestselling author. He has published more than twenty novels for children and young adults, including Peak, Zach’s Lie, and Cryptid Hunters. He and his wife, Marie, who is also an author, live on a small farm near Portland, Oregon.

Reviews

At the height of the London blitz, Nick’s mother sends him to join his father on the family’s remote, ancestral timber plantation in Burma. Her gambit turns out badly: The invading Japanese soon seize the plantation, imprisoning his father in a brutal POW camp, and leaving 13-year-old Nick to endure hardship under Japanese overseers (whose characterizations are less complex than those of the diverse Burmese). As readers will expect from suspense-specialist Smith, Nick faces exciting situations (including several weeks in the estate’s secret catacombs), and details of Burmese politics, spirituality, and daily life weave an alluring backdrop. Some readers, however, may feel disoriented by Smith’s fragmented storytelling style, in which momentum often seems to consolidate around one character or plot development only to move suddenly in an entirely new direction. Still, this offering’s unusual setting deserves attention from historical fiction fans, who will appreciate the window on a rarely discussed theater of World War II. Grades 5-8. --Jennifer Mattson

Edition details

• Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
• Publication date: 2007
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1423104021
• ISBN 13: 9781423104025
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 336