The White Giraffe by Lauren St. John

Synopsis: Martine’s life turns upside down when her parents die in a house fire. She is sent to live with her grandmother (a person she did not know existed) on a game reserve in South Africa. Martine immediately falls in love with the wildlife and countryside, but maintains a stiff relationship with her grandmother. Things get mysterious when she learns she has “the gift” – what it is, she’s not sure, but it somehow seems connected to the white giraffe she spots in the game reserve.

Rating: Good in parts; overall, enh.

Opinion (SPOILER ALERT!): I was much more interested in the story for the first half of the book. It petered off after that – even though the action picked up in the last half. Martine is a likable character, but her gift, which turns out to be a gift of healing magically, seems out of place in a story otherwise firmly placed in modern society. Likewise, her destiny that she be reunited with the giraffe (at the cost of her parents’ lives) just doesn’t seem to work with the realism in the rest of the story. I’m not sure why these magical elements don’t seem to fit, unless it’s that the other parts of the story, like the scenes at school, are so very realistic and familiar to the reader, that it’s like trying to mix oil and water.

At times, the writing seemed trite and unrealistic. Near the end, Martine frees the white giraffe (named Jemmy) from a ship in the Cape Town harbor, and on the way out, knocks down Alex, the game warden, who has been involved in a conspiracy to capture Jemmy. Then, Martine rides Jemmy triumphantly back from Cape Town to the game reserve, and sees Alex being arrested. How did he get from Cape Town to the game reserve (a two hour trip)? Why wouldn’t he have been arrested in Cape Town? There is no explanation. Martine’s triumphant ride home is complete with crowds chanting her name and a rainbow over her house.

There were interesting parts to the book, including the parts about wildlife in South Africa, and Martine herself, but overall, I came away with a dissatisfied feeling. Perhaps the target age (9-12) won’t be so discerning.