Tuesday Book Review

Four-star review of West With Giraffes by Lynda Rutledge

I read this for a book group I recently joined. It was an interesting story based on the actual transport of two African giraffes from the harbor in New York City to the San Diego Zoo before World War 2 and at the end of the depression period. The story is told from the viewpoint of a seventeen-year-old dust bowl survivor who drove the truck taking the giraffes cross country but written by him at the age of 105. In fact, my only real quibble is that the boy’s speech pattern doesn’t reflect his lack of education. I learned a lot about conditions in different parts of the country in the late 1930s. The characters and events of the story were all entertaining and engaging.