The Elephant Whisperer: My Life with the Herd in the African Wild

Gr 7 Up—In this wonderful memoir of life on a South African game reserve, Anthony tells the story of a group of elephants that he inherited in 1997. The elephants came to Thula Thula, Anthony's reserve, because they had learned to break free of the electric barriers in their previous home. As the author and his staff scrambled to prepare the appropriate enclosure, they also struggled to track down a group of poachers who appeared to have infiltrated his property. Almost immediately after their arrival, the elephants broke loose and began the trek north back to their previous home. Anthony's narrative of tracking and catching these massive creatures is a heart-pumping adventure tale. When the elephants were finally returned, Anthony started on the difficult task of forming a relationship with the matriarch of the group and reaching out through her to the rest of the herd while still maintaining their "wild" character, which is essential to their survival on the reserve. The chapters in this action-packed memoir are brief and numerous, the pacing and complexity of the writing is perfect for middle to high school readers, and the message is heartwarming without becoming bogged down in sentimentality. The deaths of several wild animals and a beloved pet are addressed in the story and the afterword discusses Anthony's own death in 2012, so sensitive readers should be forewarned.