The Elephant's Girl (Celesta Rimington)

 

I loved this book. It was a grade 3 book club pick. I chose it for October because it has ghosts and paranormal activity in it. It wasn't scary though. It was a beautiful story.

The voice in this book trailer is not the voice I imagine Lexington to have at all. It's way too young.

The theme of figuring out who you are and finding ways to accept yourself are great for young readers. Throughout the book, Lexington communicates with the wind and with an elephant and through it, learns to accept herself and find the strength in her own uniqueness. She also learns to allow her friends to be themselves and be unique as well. I loved how she stood up for herself and worked hard to discover what was lost (literally and figuratively). 

Goodreads says:
An elephant never forgets...but Lexington Willow can't remember her past. When she was a toddler, a tornado swept her away from everyone and everything she knew and landed her near an enclosure in a Nebraska zoo, where an elephant named Nyah protected her from the storm. With no trace of her family, Lex grew up at the zoo with her foster father, Roger; her best friend, Fisher; and the wind whispering in her ear.

style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; font-family: "Proxima Nova", Montserrat, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px;" />Now that she's twelve, Lex is finally old enough to help with the elephants. But during their first training session, Nyah sends her a telepathic image of the woods outside the zoo. Despite the wind's protests, Lex decides to investigate Nyah's message and gets wrapped up in an adventure involving ghosts, lost treasure, and a puzzle that might be the key to finding her family. Can Lex summon the courage to hunt for who she really is--and why the tornado brought her here all those years ago?

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry (Rachel Joyce)

 

This book was oddly simple but yet very profound. Harold's walking brings about a lot of time to think about his seemingly unhappy life. However, the process brings him around to figuring himself out and realizing he does want what he has. He walks to try to make amends for mistakes he has made in life and to find forgiveness for others and for himself. He realizes relationships, as full of challenges and as messy as they are, are what matters most. Along the way, sometimes our life gets crowded with all sorts of noise and people - but in the end, it's our partner and children that matter most and bring meaning.

I will go find the other books she has written that explains the story from Queenie's and Maureen's point of view.

Goodreads says:

Recently retired, sweet, emotionally numb Harold Fry is jolted out of his passivity by a letter from Queenie Hennessy, an old friend, who he hasn't heard from in twenty years. She has written to say she is in hospice and wanted to say goodbye. Leaving his tense, bitter wife Maureen to her chores, Harold intends a quick walk to the corner mailbox to post his reply but instead, inspired by a chance encounter, he becomes convinced he must deliver his message in person to Queenie--who is 600 miles away--because as long as he keeps walking, Harold believes that Queenie will not die. So without hiking boots, rain gear, map or cell phone, one of the most endearing characters in current fiction begins his unlikely pilgrimage across the English countryside. Along the way, strangers stir up memories--flashbacks, often painful, from when his marriage was filled with promise and then not, of his inadequacy as a father, and of his shortcomings as a husband. Ironically, his wife Maureen, shocked by her husband's sudden absence, begins to long for his presence. Is it possible for Harold and Maureen to bridge the distance between them? And will Queenie be alive to see Harold arrive at her door?