One Amazing Elephant

Reviewed by: Deidre Walsh - Goodall Library, Sanford, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: September 19, 2017

Review

Twelve-year-old Lily Rose Pruitt's family is a circus. Literally. Her long absentee mother is a trapeze artist and her beloved grandfather is an elephant trainer. Lily lives with her loving father. Tragedy strikes and Lily goes to Florida for her grandfather's funeral. While there she attempts to reconnect with her mother, with only a smidgen of success. But Lily at least gains a better understanding of her situation. Lily also meets some of the other circus folk. Some of them are nice, but some are very mean and cruel. That includes her wayward mother's boyfriend. Which complicates everyone's life from grandma & Lily to the elephant. Most importantly, Lily slowly overcomes her fear of elephants and forms a close bond with her grandpa's elephant the Amazing Queenie Grace. Told in alternating chapters from Lily's perspective and from Queenie Grace's perspective, you can experience the grief and other emotions that both human and elephant are experiencing. The writing is so heartbreaking when you experience things through the elephant's perspective. Animals really do have emotions, suffer grief and love. Lily and Queenie Grace are bonded. They even somewhat help each other through the grieving process and through the trials and tribulations of life. When a circus employee and Lily's mom's boyfriend plot to steal and sell Queenie Grace, Lily and her friend Henry Jack kick into action. Things don't end as Lily hoped, by she does end up saving Queenie in an unexpected way, her family and herself. Lily Rose is a wonderful heroine. She's been through much in her young life. But she always tries to see the good side in everything. That is an important lesson. It is also a theme throughout the book. Other equally important themes are friendship, how grief changes you, the power of art in the healing process, and that most people do the best they can with what they have. The treatment of circus animals is also woven throughout the book. This is both a heartbreaking and uplifting story. The writing flows. It is emotional, detailed, direct and poetic all at once. The chapters range from one or two lines (Queenie Grace's perspective) to ten pages (Lily's perspective). The ending wraps up nicely, but not as you would expect. But it is Queenie Grace who has the most wonderful surprise at the end. It was truly a "wow" moment. I'm not going to say anymore. You will just have to read it for yourselves. Give to fans of "Because of Winn Dixie" by Kate DiCamillo, "The One and Only Ivan" by Katherine Applegate and "Chained" by Lynn Kelly. A first purchase for most libraries.

Overall Book Score: excellent