Elephant Run [Paperback]

Roland Smith (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 10 and up | Grade Level: 5 and up

In 1941, bombs drop from the night skies of London, demolishing the apartment Nick Freestone lives in with his mother. Deciding the situation in England is too unstable, Nick's mother sends him to live with his father in Burma, hoping he will be safer living on the family's teak plantation.

 

But as soon as Nick arrives, trouble erupts in the remote Burmese elephant village. Japanese soldiers invade, and Nick's father is taken prisoner. Nick is left stranded on the plantation, forced to work as a servant to the new rulers. As life in the village grows more dangerous for Nick and his young friend, Mya, they plan their daring escape. Setting off on elephant back, they will risk their lives to save Nick's father and Mya's brother from a Japanese POW camp.

 

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

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

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 --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

About the Author

Roland Smith is a former zookeeper and leading expert on red wolves as well as an author. He lives on a small farm near Portland, Oregon.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Hyperion Book CH; Reprint edition (June 30, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1423104013
• ISBN-13: 978-1423104018
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5.7 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #35,578 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #15 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Children's Books > Animals > Elephants > Fiction
  • #22 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Children's Books > History & Historical Fiction > Fiction > Military & Wars
  • #25 in Books > Children's Books > Animals > Elephants

More About the Author

Roland Smith is a former zookeeper and leading expert on red wolves as well as an author. He lives on a small farm near Portland, Oregon.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Exciting WWII historical fiction for middle-grade readers, February 13, 2008

By 

Deborah "Constant Reader" (Texas, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Elephant Run (Hardcover)

ELEPHANT RUN is an exciting, historical adventure novel that will appeal to all middle grade readers (and their parents!). In 1941, Nick Freestone joins his estranged father at the family plantation in Burma to escape the bombs falling on England. Instead of finding refuge, he is plunged into the Japanese invasion of Burma. With the help of his young friend, Mya, Nick tries to learn more about the timber elephants trained on the plantation. Mya, a girl who hopes to become an elephant trainer, or "mahout," barely has time to show Nick around the plantation before Nick's father is taken prisoner by the Japanese. With Japanese soldiers in charge of the family home, Nick becomes an unwilling servant of the Japanese. But there are hidden passageways in the house, and soon Mya and Nick have found a way to escape into the jungle, riding on the back of a much-feared rogue elephant named Hannibal.

For readers who've already exhausted the many books about WWII in Europe, this book offers a view of the war in Asia. While the book is mainly about Nick and Mya, readers will see multi-dimensional Japanese, Burmese, and British characters and learn more about life in Burma before and during the war. Issues of colonialism, foreign exploitation, and the desire for Burmese independence are introduced by the various characters who people the story, but the novel is focused primarily on Nick and Mya's need to escape from their Japanese captors. The elephants are part of the story as well, with Hannibal and Miss Pretty representing some of the many elephants trained to work British plantations in Burma.

Fast-paced action drives this story forward, with historical details supporting the action. Nick's father is sent to work on the infamous Japanese railroad, and the story provides a look inside the labor camps. History never slows the action, but information about the Japanese invasion and Burmese reaction abound in the story. Teachers may want to use this story to draw reluctant readers into learning more about World War II in Asia. Be sure to have a map or atlas handy as you'll want to look up the places named in the story. Readers will be sure to want to learn more about elephants and "mahouts" after reading this novel. War Elephants makes good companion reading.

If you like fast-paced adventure novels, stories of World War II, or historical novels, you'll enjoy this exciting novel. My only complaint was the quick resolution at the end -- I would have liked to read more about Nick's actual escape and journey to Australia, but that would take another novel. Let's hope the author is planning to write more about Nick and Mya!

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars loved this book, July 6, 2008

By 

book fair maiden (rancho santa margarita, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Elephant Run (Hardcover)

I am a mother of four children under 14, and always looking for well written historical fiction for my boys. My 10 year old needs the action in a book to start pretty quickly, or he will lose interest. I just finished reading this today, and I can't wait for him to read it. Smith is able to take a fairly complex subject, and make it interesting, and understandable, while teaching the reader a piece of the history of Burma during WWII. By the middle of this book, I could not put it down, I was so anxious to discover the outcome of Nick Freestone's fate. Fantastic!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Boy's adventure, August 20, 2009

By 

J. Grambo "Teacher" (Indiana, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Elephant Run (Paperback)

An exciting tale of a 14-year-old boy in WWII Burma. When Japanese soldiers invade his father's plantation, Nick is forced to work as a servant and his father is imprisoned in a labor camp. Nick must join forces with others to make his daring escape and save his father. Great for ages 9-14.