Exciting WWII historical fiction for middle-grade readers

books:


	• Elephant Run Roland Smith Hyperion, 2007 - 336 pages average customer review:based on 6 reviews view larger image
	for more information click here

highly recommended

Exciting WWII historical fiction for middle-grade readers

ELEPHANT RUN is an exciting, historical adventure novel that will appeal to all middle grade readers (and their parents!). In 1941, Nick Freestone joins his estranged father at the family plantation in Burma to escape the bombs falling on England. Instead of finding refuge, he is plunged into the Japanese invasion of Burma. With the help of his young friend, Mya, Nick tries to learn more about the timber elephants trained on the plantation. Mya, a girl who hopes to become an elephant trainer, or "mahout," barely has time to show Nick around the plantation before Nick's father is taken prisoner by the Japanese. With Japanese soldiers in charge of the family home, Nick becomes an unwilling servant of the Japanese. But there are hidden passageways in the house, and soon Mya and Nick have found a way to escape into the jungle, riding on the back of a much-feared rogue elephant named Hannibal.

For readers who've already exhausted the many books about WWII in Europe, this book offers a view of the war in Asia. While the book is mainly about Nick and Mya, readers will see multi-dimensional Japanese, Burmese, and British characters and learn more about life in Burma before and during the war. Issues of colonialism, foreign exploitation, and the desire for Burmese independence are introduced by the various characters who people the story, but the novel is focused primarily on Nick and Mya's need to escape from their Japanese captors. The elephants are part of the story as well, with Hannibal and Miss Pretty representing some of the many elephants trained to work British plantations in Burma.

Fast-paced action drives this story forward, with historical details supporting the action. Nick's father is sent to work on the infamous Japanese railroad, and the story provides a look inside the labor camps. History never slows the action, but information about the Japanese invasion and Burmese reaction abound in the story. Teachers may want to use this story to draw reluctant readers into learning more about World War II in Asia. Be sure to have a map or atlas handy as you'll want to look up the places named in the story. Readers will be sure to want to learn more about elephants and "mahouts" after reading this novel. War Elephants makes good companion reading.

If you like fast-paced adventure novels, stories of World War II, or historical novels, you'll enjoy this exciting novel. My only complaint was the quick resolution at the end -- I would have liked to read more about Nick's actual escape and journey to Australia, but that would take another novel. Let's hope the author is planning to write more about Nick and Mya!

for more information click here

elephant run

What if you were captured by the Japanese, separated from your father and then had to work for them? That is pretty much what happens in Elephant Run, by Roland Smith. The book takes place in Africa on a plantation made for mahouts to train their elephants. The plantation is surrounding a village called Hawks Nest that soon becomes a Japanese headquarters lead by Colonel Nagayoshi. A bright side for Nick, who is the main character separated from his father, is there is that a solder named Sonji who is nice to him. Nick and Mya are both prisoners of the Japanese who have the same goal, Mya wants to get her brother Indaw out of a Japanese camp and Nick wants his father, Mr. Freestone, out of the same camp. Hilltop is the most important character in the book. He gets Mya and Nick out of the Japanese headquarters and gives them a chance to get Nick's father and Mya's brother Indaw out of the work camp. The book takes place in 1945 during World War II. The book is very slow in the beginning, but when the Japanese get involved, about half way through the book it gets interesting. Overall, the book was very good. You just need to get half-way through it for it to become exciting. I think the book is between fiction and non-fiction. It does have non-fictional things happening in the book, but it is fiction because of the characters and story about them. If you enjoy something exciting, then Elephant Run is probably a good book for you.

for more information click here

elephant run

for more information click here

Great Book

Roland Smith is a great author. I love this book, although i do like Peak better. This is a cool book and gives you an understanding of what it was like to the war captives. You can really understand the main character.

loved this book

I am a mother of four children under 14, and always looking for well written historical fiction for my boys. My 10 year old needs the action in a book to start pretty quickly, or he will lose interest. I just finished reading this today, and I can't wait for him to read it. Smith is able to take a fairly complex subject, and make it interesting, and understandable, while teaching the reader a piece of the history of Burma during WWII. By the middle of this book, I could not put it down, I was so anxious to discover the outcome of Nick Freestone's fate. Fantastic!

for more information click here

reviews: page 1, 2

In 1941, bombs drop from the night skies of London, demolishing the apartment Nick Freestone lives in with his mother. Deciding the situation in England is too unstable, Nick's mother sends him to live with his father in Burma, hoping he will be safer living on the family's teak plantation. But as soon as Nick arrives, trouble erupts in this remote Burmese elephant village. Japanese soldiers invade, and Nick's father is taken prisoner. Nick is stranded on the plantation, forced to work as a servant to the new rulers. As life in the village grows more dangerous for Nick and his young friend, Mya, they plan their daring escape. Setting off on elephant back, they will risk their lives to save Nick's father and Mya's brother from a Japanese POW camp. In this thrilling journey through the jungles of Burma, Roland Smith explores the far-reaching effects of World War II, while introducing readers to the fascinating world of wild timber elephants and their mahouts.

for more information click here

hot