Jacob and his young friends are confronted with war, starvation, dehydration, raging rivers, crocodile and lion attacks, and the evil Majok - the constant thorn in Jacob's side - as they struggle to survive on their own. As the boys work and grow together as a family, surviving in harsh conditions, against the odds, Jacob's boyhood desire to become a soldier wanes. Gradually, he comes to the realization that fighting doesn't improve anything and begins to embrace his mother's belief in education as the road to peace and stability. Inspired by the real life experiences of a Lost Boy of Sudan, this novel is about an extraordinary journey of courage, perseverance, and hope.
"Young readers will find admirable qualities in Jacob, as he perseveres through months of thirst, hunger, bloody wounds wrapped in leaves, walking many miles from grasslands through blistering sand, and escaping ravenous crocodiles while crossing rivers to reach safety. The author includes interviews and a glossary that further explain how the story came to be written. This book puts into perspective the peace and educational opportunities that readers enjoy."
— Foreword Magazine
"Teens will be moved by the unsparing survival story and the climax, when Jacob learns to read."
— Booklist
"A Hare in the Elephant's Trunk is an incredible story. . . As a compelling story of the lives of war-affected children, it certainly has a place in middle-school.
Highly Recommended."
— CM Magazine
"An important and well-written story. Jan Coates takes the reader deep into the lives of children dealing with the uproar of war and terror - a strong reminder that the world needs to do better."
— Deborah Ellis
"Jan Coates has succeeded wonderfully with A Hare in the Elephant's Trunk. She gives the reader an uncomfortably vivid sense of what it must be like to lose one's home and family, to wander aimlessly through a bleak and blasted landscape, in constant danger of starving or being shot. Such desperate circumstances could have led her young protagonist, Jacob, to become bitter, to resort to violence himself. And, working with such material, Coates could have written a very dark and despairing sort of book. But both the author and her characters rise above the situation and find in it an unexpected wealth of humour and humanity and hope."
— Gary L. Blackwood, author of The Shakespeare Stealer, The Great Race, The Just-So Woman, and Second Sight
Independent Publisher Book Award Silver Medalist, 2011
2011 Skipping Stones Honor Award winner
On the 2011 USBBY Outstanding International Books honor list
Ann Conner Brimer Award for Children's Literature finalist, 2011
2011 Snow Willow Award nominee
A 2012 "Woozles' Battle of the Books" Elementary List Title
A 2012 "Woozles' Battle of the Books" Teen List Title
Below is a book trailer for A Hare in the Elephant's Trunk created by the author, Jan Coates:
Click here to see the Teacher's Guide.
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