Disclaimer: I received a free ARC from Random House Children (via NetGalley) in exchange for an honest review.
Edition: ARC on Kindle
Genre: Middle Grade
Publication Date: May 19, 2020
Synopsis:
An elephant never forgets...but Lexington Willow can't remember her past. When she was a toddler, a tornado swept her away from everyone and everything she knew and landed her near an enclosure in a Nebraska zoo, where an elephant named Nyah protected her from the storm. With no trace of her family, Lex grew up at the zoo with 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. Can Lex summon the courage to hunt for who she really is--and why the tornado brought her here all those years ago?
Sarah's Review:
**I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review**
There are a lot of things I loved about this book. First of all the book is set in a zoo, and focusses heavily on elephants (which I love). This book also tackles the topics of bullying, adoption, and feeling alone which are all great things to show in a middle grade novel where these topics really come to light in real life. I really appreciated that Fisher's parents are a multi-racial couple, because the diversity is also super important to show. I loved that there was a paranormal aspect with a mystery thrown in, it really made the story feel rather magical.
The relationships and interactions between people in this book were amazing. Fisher and Lex had such a pure and trusting friendship, and it was a pleasure to see what they would get into. Lex's relationship with Roger was also a great "father, daughter" relationship. They were trusting, and really seemed to be open and understanding of each other. I always love when books show good relationships between parents and children instead of "villainizing" the parents.
The ending was a bit predictable for me, but that may just be because the book is under my reading level. I think the ending wrapped everything up nicely, and was really heart warming.
Overall, I would recommend this book to anybody. When it comes out I will be buying a copy for my nine year old sister, whom loves animals especially elephants.
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