Small as an Elephant Blog

Summary

The book Small as an Elephant by Jennifer Richard Jacobson is about a boy who was abandoned by his mother at a campsite in Maine. The boy, Jack, is eleven years old, lives in Boston, and is obsessed with elephants. His mother and him go on a camping trip at Acadia National Park for Labor Day weekend. When he wakes up in the morning his mother is not there. This isn't the first time this has happened, he just wishes should wouldn't be gone long. He must survive on his own searching for his mother all over Maine. The story shows Jack's adventure and survival story of a young boy living on his own with only the clothes on his back and a small plastic elephant.

Do you like what you’re reading? Why or why not?

I did like what I read. I enjoyed the book because it was full of adventure and it was relate-able. This poor boy had to live on his own for a week while trying to dodge the police. He had to hide in some very unusual places. One of these places was a garbage bin because the police were looking for him. Jack also was trying to get to a certain destination so he needed some sort of transportation. The book says on page 124, "Before anyone else pulled into the lot, Jack jumped into the back of the truck, scurried under the tarp, and lay there facedown." This shows how he would jump into a complete strangers car in order to get where he wanted to go. He was desperate to not walk the entire way. I liked how he did this because it shows how he wasn't fearful of what might happen to him. This book is relate-able because it is about a boy who is around my age. I can imagine walking in his footsteps and thinking what he thought. 

Is what you are reading believable? Why or why not?

The book is believable. It is believable because there are many mothers who abandon their children. For whatever reasons that they do, it happens a lot. The mother in the story also had an illness so you could imagine that there was something that compelled her to want to leave. It is also believable because a kid can live alone for only a week. In the beginning, Jack collected old cans to get money. The book says, "That meant that he could get five cents for every drink container he took to the store". (57) This knowledge is something that many people know so a kid would probably use it for his advantage. This book is believable in another way because Jack is obsessed with elephants. Many people have something that they absolutely love and think about all the time. His passion for these animals drove him to continue on with his adventure.