Friday, August 8, 2008

ELEPHANT RUN by Roland Smith



ELEPHANT RUN is filled with Roland Smith's usual action and adventure. It is set in Burma near the end of World War II. Nick Freestone lives in England with his mother and step-father. During a bombing their apartment is destroyed, and Nick's mother fearful of his safety, decides to send Nick to live with his father on a teakwood plantation in Burma. That's when the adventure truly begins.


Nick was born on the Burma plantation, but left when his mother and father separated. It's been more than 10 years since he has been in his old home. Anxious to return and see his father, he is also excited to see the elephants. They are trained and handled by the Burmese men to move the timber on the plantation.

Once Nick arrives, he only gets to spend a few days with his father. He barely gets to meet the local residents of the nearby elephant village before the Japanese capture the plantation and take his father and many of the village men as prisoners.

What follows is Nick's struggle to survive in the jungle and then back on the plantation as a slave for the Japanese. He works in the garden by day and is locked up in his old nursery by night. With the help of an old elephant handler (a mahout), he learns about the secret passages in the main house and works to plan his escape.

Roland Smith is the author of wonderful adventure books for ages 12 and up. Among them are THUNDER CAVE, JAGUAR, THE LAST LOBO, and SASQUATCH. His characters are definitely not couch potatoes; instead they take readers on action-packed journeys around the world.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

this is a great book. i recomment\d everyone to read this book. el sha sha sha baa baa baaa prasie you jesus!!!!!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

this book sucks...its not good till the very end and its boring....its really complicated to follow where he even is! i vote negative 10 stars

Anonymous said...

it's actually a very easy book to read, and it's not boring at all it's actually extremely suspensful. i reccomend this book for ages 12 and up.

Anonymous said...

This is an amazing book! It ranks right up there as one of the best books I have ever read. 10 stars, no doubt about it.

Anonymous said...

black people are not bad. i am white

Hunter said...

I <3 this book as much as I like girls!!!!
It is really exciting and I like happy ending books!!

Anonymous said...

I agree Hunter!!!
But girls won by a bit

Anonymous said...

My 6th grade class did a book study on thjis book and it was amazing!I love the characters and the tiny bits of detail that keeps everything alive!

Anonymous said...

ROLAND WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE BOOK YOU'VE WRITTEN?

Anonymous said...

this book was great

Anonymous said...

this must be the best book i have ever read

Anonymous said...

its a good book... no need to be racist!

Anonymous said...

This was a great book! I read it a couple years ago and it was definitely a page-turner!!!

Anonymous said...

It was actually a bit hard to follow in the beginning but as I started reading for a longer period of time, it was more exciting and all that