The Elephant’s Girl by Celesta Rimington is a book your middle grade reader won’t put down! The Elephant’s Girl will enchant young readers who love animals, zoos and dash of magic.

Book Jacket Synopsis:

An elephant never forgets, but Lexington Willow can’t remember what happened before an EF5 tornado swept her away when she was a toddler. All she knows is that it landed her near an enclosure in a Nebraska zoo; and there an elephant named Nyah protected her from the storm. With no trace of her birth family, Lex grew up at the zoo with Nyah and her elephant family; her foster father, Roger; her best friend, Fisher; and the wind whispering in her ear.

Now that she’s twelve, Lex is finally old enough to help with the elephants. But during their first training session, Nyah sends her a telepathic image of the woods outside the zoo. Despite the wind’s protests, Lex decides to investigate Nyah’s message and gets wrapped up in an adventure involving ghosts, lost treasure, and a puzzle that might be the key to finding her family. As she hunts for answers, Lex must summon the courage to leave the secure borders of her zoo to discover who she really is–and why the tornado brought her here all those years ago?

Our Review:

The Elephant’s Girl is an engaging read with many twists and turns. Lexington loves her life at the zoo. She has a special connection with Nyla the elephant and a best friend named Fisher who also lives at the zoo with his parents. The only problem is that Lex doesn’t know who she really is and is also terrified of life outside the zoo.

The book delves into the mysteries of Lexington’s past and her deep connection with Nyla the elephant. “I don’t remember anything before the tornado…But I do remember scrambling uphill through a terrible wind beneath a blackened sky and feeling an opening in the fence. My fingers finding Nyah in the dark. The muddy and hay sweet smell of her wrinkled skin. The feel of the muscles in her thick trunk, all 40,000 of them…not hurting me.  And I wasn’t alone anymore.”

During their first official training session, Lex realizes she has a telepathic connection to Nyla. The images they share open up the adventure of a lifetime for Lex. The page turning action goes from there. The story is sweet, engaging and moves along at a pace that begs you to read just one more chapter before putting it down. No spoilers but in the end Lex learns that families can come in all shapes and sizes. It’s ok to embrace the present along with the presents life bears while bravely accepting the past.

They say an elephant never forgets and The Elephant’s Girl is a story that a will stick with you long after you put it down.

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