Book Descriptions
for The White Giraffe by Lauren St. John
From The United States Board on Books for Young People (USBBY)
Martine Allen turned eleven years old on New Year’s Eve. She was dream ing about a strange, beautiful land, but when she awoke she was screaming. Her house and her parents were enveloped in flames. Martine leaves England for South Africa to live with a grandmother she never knew existed. The few people and things Martine finds interesting about her grandmother’s game preserve are off limits for her. It is not until Martine encounters a “ghost giraffe” in the middle of the night and realizes there are dangerous hunters trying to capture it that South Africa becomes her home. Sequels include Dolphin Song (2008), and The Last Leopard (2009). lmp
Originally published by Orion Children’s Books Great Britain, in 2006.
From the Publisher
A thrilling adventure classic-in-the-making!
The night Martine Allen turns eleven years old is the night her life changes completely. Martine's parents are killed in a fire, so she must leave her home to live on an African wildlife reserve with a grandmother she never even knew she had. When Martine arrives, she hears tales of a mythical animal living there-a white giraffe. They say no one has ever seen the animal, but it does leave behind footprints. Her grandmother insists that the white giraffe is just a legend, but then, one stormy night, Martine looks out her bedroom window straight into the eyes of the tall silvery animal. Could it be just Martine's imagination, or is the white giraffe real? And if so, why is everyone keeping its existence a secret?
