The Elephant Girl

The Elephant Girl was a good story. It tells the tale of how humans and animals are able to develop a strong bond despite being completely different species because there is no limit to the bonds created by love and friendship.

Jama is a young girl who lives alone with her mother in a small village. She has always only had one friend, but now that they are older, they have grown apart. Soon, Jama starts sneaking off after school to a small clearing in the middle of the forest with a pond. The little clearing is home to a herd of elephants. Jama becomes very close with one of the elephants, a calf named Mbegu.

Then, one day, a group of poachers kills an elephant from the herd. This causes the elephants to stampede. In the process, both Jama’s mother and Mbegu’s mother die. When Jama saves the baby elephant from a hoard of angry villagers, almost everybody gets mad at her. Soon Mbegu has to go to a hospital in another country and Jama has to make a choice: go with her only friend or remain in the only home she has ever known.

I enjoyed The Elephant Girl because it tells the story of animals and the main character, Jama, is approximately my age. I wanted to be able to relate to her more, but while her character was interesting, I did not find much that I had in common with her other than the love she had for Mbegu, as I have that same kind of love for my own animal. The Elephant Girl is best suited for readers ages six to ten and animal lovers. It was an interesting read. I’m glad I picked it up.