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The Elephant in the Room
Author
Publication Date
March 01, 2022
Genre / Grade Band
Fiction / 4th − 5th
Language
English
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Description
From the New York Times bestselling author of Counting by 7s comes a heartfelt story about the importance of compassion and bravery when facing life's challenges" (Kirkus) for fans of The One and Only Ivan and Front Desk.
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.
Publication date
March 01, 2022
Genre
Fiction
ISBN-13
9780735229952
Publisher
Rocky Pond Books
BISAC categories
JUV013060 - Juvenile Fiction | Family | Parents
JUV002260 - Juvenile Fiction | Animals | Zoos
JUV039250 - Juvenile Fiction | Social Themes | Emigration & Immigration
JUV002260 - Juvenile Fiction | Animals | Zoos
JUV039250 - Juvenile Fiction | Social Themes | Emigration & Immigration
Library of Congress categories
Friendship
Families
Family life
Separation (Psychology)
Elephants
Emigration and immigration
Oregon
Turkish Americans
Families
Family life
Separation (Psychology)
Elephants
Emigration and immigration
Oregon
Turkish Americans
Kirkus
Accessibly captures the human impact of harsh immigration laws and the power of connection. (Fiction. 9-14)
Publishers Weekly
Book and animal lover Sila Tekin finds hope, joy, and friendship when Veda, a traumatized circus elephant, enters her life. After an immigration issue arises for the sixth grader's mother, her planned eight-day trip from Oregon to Turkey becomes an eight-month separation for the family. Sila misses her mother desperately, withdrawing at school and with her Kurdish father, a mechanic who moved to America to seek political asylum. When Sila accompanies her father to work one day, she befriends Gio Gardino, an elderly widower and lottery winner who purchases Veda from a defunct circus troupe that passes through their town. With the help of new friend Mateo Lopez, an autistic Mexican American classmate, Sila cares for Veda and fights to reunite her with her mother; the girl also begins to come out of her shell and feel hope again. Though the final chapters rush to an implausibly tidy end, Sloan (To Night Owl from Dogfish) fully builds the emotional interiors of each character, including Veda. This heartfelt tale thoughtfully conveys the agony of family separation, the beauty of nature, and the power of friendship to overcome tremendous difficulties. Ages 10-up. Agent: Amy Berkower, Writers House. (Mar.)
Copyright 2021 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission. Holly Goldberg Sloan
Holly Goldberg Sloan, the acclaimed author of I'll Be There, has worked as an advertising copywriter and a writer and director of feature films. She lives in Santa Monica, California.