Water for Elephants, by Sara Gruen

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen is a great historical novel revolving around a 23 year old American man named Jacob. Jacob literally "runs away with the circus" after finding out that his parents had died in a car accident. He falls in love with one of the girls in the show, Marlena, who handles the elephant. Marlena is with August, a rough and abusive man who mistreats everyone-humans and animals alike- he meets. Jacob narrates his life in the time he was in the circus and after it's collapse. 

I enjoyed this book. It had a great setting and provided fine visual detail of the scenes. I could see all the characters in my mind from the descriptions by the author. I would recommend it to older audiences, probably high school level and above. Great book, overall.

Reviewed by Anonymous, grade 11
Pacific Park Library