About the Book & Author

[Jessica]

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

As a young man, Jacob Jankowski was tossed by fate onto a rickety train that was home to the Benzini Brothers' Most Spectacular Show on Earth. It was the early part of the great Depression, and for Jacob, now ninety, the circus world he remembers was both his salvation and a living hell. A veterinary student just shy of a degree, he was put in charge of caring for the circus menagerie.

It was there that he met Marlena, the beautiful equestrian star married to August, the charismatic but twisted animal trainer. And he met Rosie, an untrainable elephant who was the great gray hope for this third-rate traveling show. The bond that grew among this unlikely trio was one of love and trust, and, ultimately, it was their only hope for survival.

About Sara Gruen: Sara Gruen is the author of the bestseller Riding Lessons and Flying Changes. She lives north of Chicago with her husband, her three children, four cats, two goats, two dogs, and a horse.

Discover all titles and editions from Sara Gruen.

[platypuscb]

is this book good for a 12 year old

[Peppermill]

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platypuscb wrote:
is this book good for a 12 year old

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It has some tough parts, so, depending on your values and the maturity of the 12-year-old, I would use discretion.

If you look through the posts on this board, I believe you will find a discussion on what minimum age some of the readers here would suggest for this book. If recall correctly, it was about 15+, so 12 would be young.

I don't think I would hand WFE to a 12 yr old, primarily because I would probably want to be protective from elements of ugliness for a few more years. But, there could be exceptions.

[vivico1]

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Peppermill wrote:

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platypuscb wrote:
is this book good for a 12 year old

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It has some tough parts, so, depending on your values and the maturity of the 12-year-old, I would use discretion.

If you look through the posts on this board, I believe you will find a discussion on what minimum age some of the readers here would suggest for this book. If recall correctly, it was about 15+, so 12 would be young.

I don't think I would hand WFE to a 12 yr old, primarily because I would probably want to be protective from elements of ugliness for a few more years. But, there could be exceptions.

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Yeah, I agree, this is really not a book for a 12 year old. There are very adult topics in it and language. The storyline is very adult, some adults even stopped reading it, saying it was a good book but they couldnt refer it for content or finish it.