Elephant Run by Roland Smith

Nick is fourteen and has just been shipped off to his father's timber plantation in Burma because London is under attack. It's World War II and the timber elephants owned by Nick's dad are a valuable commodity to the deadly Japanese soldiers who take over the plantation. Nick becomes a slave on his family's land while Dad is sent to a labor death camp. With the assistance of some heroic Burmese friends, including the beautiful Mya, and a dangerous elephant called Hannibal, Nick will become something he is not, will discover secret tunnels, will experience the atrocities of war, and will live to tell about it. I enjoyed Mr. Smith's descriptions of timber elephants and their handlers: amazing creatures. I eagerly read about how Nick survived his enemies and I loved the old monk who could converse with the elephants. Enjoy.

Reed Reads Score:     5