The white giraffe. (Legend of the animal healer, vol. 1.)

a Thrilling Adventure Classic-inthe- Making! The Night Martine Allen Turns Eleven Years Old Is The Night Her Life Changes Completely. Martine's Parents Are Killed In A Fire, So She Must Leave Her Home To Live On An African Wildlife Reserve With A Grandmother She Never Even Knew She Had. When Martine Arrives, She Hears Tales Of A Mythical Animal Living There—a White Giraffe. They Say No One Has Ever Seen The Animal, But It Does Leave Behind Footprints. Her Grandmother Insists That The White Giraffe Is Just A Legend, But Then, One Stormy Night, Martine Looks Out Her Bedroom Window Straight Into The Eyes Of The Tall Silvery Animal. Could It Be Just Martine's Imagination, Or Is The White Giraffe Real? And If So, Why Is Everyone Keeping Its Existence A Secret? publishers Weekly an Exotic Setting, A Tragically Orphaned Protagonist, A Mysterious And Mystical Legend, And Heart-pounding Action Will Draw Listeners From The Start To This Audio Adaptation Of St. John's Debut. However, It Is British Actress Andoh's Robust Performance That Will Keep Listeners Entranced Throughout The Recording. She Moves Effortlessly Between English And South African Accents, And Tender And Frenetic Scenes Shared Between A Cast Of Memorable Characters. She Also Wrings Every Ounce Of Intrigue And Local Color From St. John's Plot About 11-year-old Martine Who, Following The Death Of Her Parents, Is Shipped Off To A New Home On A South African Game Reserve Run By The Grandmother She's Never Known. On The Reserve, Martine Surreptitiously Discovers And Befriends A White Giraffe, Rumored To Exist Only In Legend, And Learns How Her Magical Destiny As An Animal Healer Is Connected To The Beast. Andoh's Full-throttle Delivery Of The Breathlessly Paced Denouement Is A Standout In A Consistently Fine Recording. Ages 8-up. (june) copyright 2007 Reed Business Information When Martine’s home in England burns down, killing her parents, she must go to South Africa to live on a wildlife game preserve, called Sawubona, with the grandmother she didn’t know she had. Almost as soon as she arrives, Martine hears stories about a white giraffe living in the preserve. But her grandmother and others working at Sawubona insist that the giraffe is just a myth. Martine is not so sure, until one stormy night when she looks out her window and locks eyes with Jemmy, a young silvery-white giraffe. Why is everyone keeping Jemmy’s existence a secret? Does it have anything to do with the rash of poaching going on at Sawubona? Martine needs all of the courage and smarts she has, not to mention a little African magic, to find out. First-time children’s author Lauren St. John brings us deep into the African world, where myths become reality and a young girl with a healing gift has the power to save her home and her one true friend. After a fire kills her parents, eleven-year-old Martine must leave England to live with her grandmother on a wildlife game reserve in South Africa, where she befriends a mythical white giraffe