The White Giraffe ~ Lauren St. John

note: this is a book I read a while ago, but, wrote a reaction to after reading it. So, I am posting about it anyway. Also, see comments below about mean school kids and such. I read this before The Chocolate War. For mean school kids, Chocolate War trumps this one hands down.

I think I saw this written up in one of those Book Sense flyers (lists of good books, with short reviews). They really liked this and so I bought it for the library. Finally read it sometime in the late winter/spring (having brought it home for the winter with me).

Main character is a young girl, Martina, who was living in England until her parents were killed in a fire. This is how the book begins (so, I am really not spoiling anything here) – and it is not the sort of beginning that works super-well for me. Just too damn painful and tragic. I am such a wimp. While on the “things that don’t work for me” topic – mean school kids being mean to each other (which happens when Martina starts at a new school. Just your better basic kids being mean, excluding, teasing, etc. Again, I am a wimp and I hate that sort of thing. But, I suppose that it is a very real part of this world, and so, noting it and exploring it is not a bad thing for a book/author to do).

So, Martina goes to live in Africa, with her grandmother. They have a tense relationship, and there is a bunch of mystery that emerges when Martina arrives in Africa (to live with a grandmother that she never even knew she had…. Hmmmm. Like I said, mystery…) they live on a game preserve, and the setting is interesting and rich. Martina is super-lonely and has to figure out how to make her way in this new world.

The title comes from a “character” in the book – an elusive white giraffe that Martina befriends (or, that befriends Martina?). I think this book has that “magical realism” thing going on. Stuff happening that is not quite real. But, it’s not full blown fantasy or sci-fi.

I persevered with it, in spite of the horrific beginning and the mean school kids. As you get more into it, the “plot thickens” and you get drawn in by the mystery, and it is a pretty compelling story. Definitely more for younger kids, but a good read regardless, and, as I said before, I was pretty drawn in to the setting.