Independent Reading Level: Grades 2nd +
Awards: N/A

This was NOT my cup of tea. Too happy-go-lucky. Karli, the main character's little brother was so sickeningly positive and pleasant, I found myself wishing the elephant would trample him to death. I prefer there to be some degree of darkness and complexity in literature, even children's lit, and this one was just too happy, especially for a WWII novel. Spoiler alert: EVERYONE LIVES HAPPILY EVER AFTER. EXCEPT HITLER.

Keep in mind I'm not the target audience. But still. Blah. ( )

Another excellent novel from Morpurgo. Michael has a way of delivering difficult situations in very bearable human ways. Although Marlene the elephant is the featured character as such it is the people and their acts of kindness when surrounded by hostile situations that warms the heart. ( )

I love elephants and historical fiction, and I was intrigued to read something by the author of War Horse, even if I didn't like the movie.

It wasn't bad, but it wasn't fantastic. I guess it's been a long time since I've read something so simplistic. Mostly I just lost respect for this book when a 16-year-old girl fell in love at almost-first-sight with a 21-year-old soldier...and later married him. Seriously? Because no 16-year-old in end-of-WWII Germany has anything else on her mind but romance...

Probably my favorite character was the Countess. She seemed to have the most realistic role--no wonder, since she was based on a real person. But she had the most nuanced story, I think. I would like to read a whole book about her!

Anyway, this was just a filler while I waited to hand Wolf Hallback and get Bring Up the Bodies. It was the shortest book I had, though I didn't finish it as quickly as I might have finished other books. Ah well. ( )

Even in the middle of a war, compassion and kindness can exist, in this case, for an el - ephant in a German zoo. Excellent and heart-warming