"James Patterson and award-winning Zambian writer Ellen Banda-Aaku deliver an unforgettable survival story of a Maasai girl who faces down poachers to find a future among the elephants. Clever, sensitive Jama likes elephants better than people. While her classmates gossip - especially about the new boy, Leku - Jama takes refuge at the watering hole outside her village. There the twelve-year-old Maasai girl befriends a baby elephant she names Mbegu, Swahili for seed. When Mbegu's mother, frightened by poachers, stampedes, Jama and Mgebu are blamed for two deaths-one elephant and one human. Now Leku, whose mysterious and imposing father is head ranger at the conservancy, may be their only lifeline. Loosely inspired by true events, The Elephant Girl is a moving exploration of the bonds between creatures and the power of belonging"--

Ages 10-14

Grades 7-9