Small as an Elephant

I have read Small as an Elephant by Jennifer Richard Jacobson for my book report over the summer. The book’s genre is an adventure and it is fiction. Jacobson has created many characters that contribute to the story. The main characters are Jack Martel, Rebecca Martel (Jack’s mother), Gram (Jack’s grandmother), Big Jack, and Sylvie and Wyatt Winters. The book starts out when Jack Martel wakes up at Seawall Campgrounds on Mount Desert Island in Maine with his mom missing. But this isn’t the first time that his mother vanished. So every time she does leave Jack needs to find her before the police finds Jack and puts him in foster care. And that is what he needs to do now before that happens to them.

The authors message is expressed through Jack’s travels. His journey had challenges that he overcame with the help of some friends. “ All along the way, Jack realized, he had never really been alone. He had been part of a makeshift herd, one that had spread out over miles. They had communicated with heart sounds that were sometimes so soft, they weren’t always discernible to the ear. But they had found one another. Just like a true herd.” While on his journey, Jack met some new people that would help him out to where he needed to be just like a family. And all of those messages and phone calls he left would really make a difference to help him get back home and be with the ones he love.

I enjoyed reading this book because it showed how an eleven-year-old boy was able to deal with what was going on in his life and how he was able to bear through it and strive. I also like all of the adventures he went on and risks he took to be reconnected with his family. I recommend reading this book because it is very interesting on Jack’s survival, not only in the wilderness but also in a modern civilization.