The White Giraffe

LibraryThing member lilibrarian

After Martine's parents are killed in a house fire, she moves to South Africa where her grandmother manages a game preserve. Martine finds herself loving South Africa, and fighting poachers while trying to save a beautiful and rare creature.

LibraryThing member saramcla

couldn't finish; contrived; poorly written

LibraryThing member wmshub

Story about a girl (Martine) who saves the animals from thea mean poachers. Too simplistic; I know it's a children's book, but when the bad guys sneer and act nasty all the time, it gets old fast. Add to that, the problems would have been solved halfway through the book if Martine had told her

grandmother what she knew. Oh, but that would upset her grandmother, so she didn't. Really contrived logic is used to keep the mystery going. Overall, I can see why kids would like it, but as an adult I prefer characters instead of caricatures.

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LibraryThing member meisbres

Good story, but probably my least favorite Caudill thus far.

LibraryThing member heathersblue

Martine has lost her parebnts in a fire. The good news is that she has a grandmother ready to take her in. The bad news? It's in Africa. Africa turns out to be a place of wonder and magic for Martine as she learns about her own history and finds the strength to become the person she was meant to be.

LibraryThing member pkramer

This is a wonderful book, the first in a series, about a young girl who moves to Africa to live with her grandmother. She learns that there was a prophesy she will fulfill, she learns to heal animals, and she learns the value of friendship (both the human and animal kind). These books are fabulous

for reluctant readers and for any readers from grade four through middle school.

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LibraryThing member KaMa6

the White Giraffe was about a girl who's parents die and is forced to go live with her grandma in Africa that she's never even met. She than discovers that there's this legend of a white giraffe and she's determind to find out if it's real.

LibraryThing member guitargirl428

The white giraffe is a great book about a girl who is tring to find her way in her new home,Africa. The best part is when she is exploring the wildlife preserve with Jemmy. I absolutly LOVE this book!!

LibraryThing member ashley5

this book is about a girl named maritine she meats a whit giraffe. and when you ride one you rule all animals and she did. now the white giraffe got stolen and put on a ship and she had to go get him but it took to long but she found him and when she got back everyone was chearing and clapping for

them. but her friend tendia was just amazed because he has never seen it and he has been surching for him for a long time.

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LibraryThing member scote23

I checked this book out because it kept getting stolen from the library, which usually is a sign it's pretty good. It was. I didn't like it quite as much as some of the other books I've read for the MSBA.

Martine's parents die in a fire and she is sent to South Africa to live with a grandmother she

has never met. Martine is fascinated by the legend of the white giraffe. Her grandmother tells her that the giraffe doesn't exist, but one stormy night Martine sees it. Why is it a secret? Does someone want to steal it?

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LibraryThing member katie

On the night of her 11th birthday, Martine's life changes -- her parents are killed in a fire and she is sent to South Africa to a grandmother she has never heard of -- and who doesn't seem to like her. Life on a nature reserve is fascinating, especially as Martine becomes involved -- and friends

with -- a white giraffe that has been predicted but never seen. Martine helps her giraffe escape poachers -- barely.

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LibraryThing member paakre

A girl whose parents are killed in a house fire must move to South Africa where her only remaining relative, her grandmother, lives. Martine has never met her grandmother. She does not even know if her grandfather is still alive. The stuff that this girl doesn't know is just plain puzzling, for

instance, if her mother ever lived in South Africa with her grandmother. Or what her grandmother did for a living. It strains credulity. When the girls goes to school at first she is a member of the hot circle, then tags up with the outsider boy. She is able to go out at night without being detected.

There are many loose ends in the plotting, holes in the characterization, and uneven or odd descriptions. The adventure of finding wild animals in the dark in a wildlife refuge is very appealing however, and the girl shows care and concern that poachers and other evildoers are not allowed to run rampant in her little piece of paradise.

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LibraryThing member FuZiYun

The White Giraffe is about a girl who lives in London, England and her parents die in a house fire. So Martine is sent to South Africa to live with her grandmother, who she has never met. Her grandmother is very strict at first and Martine thinks her grandmother doesn't want her because her

grandmother sent a letter to Martine and told her she would take her but not in a willing way. Tendia picks Martine up at the airport in South Africa and tells her about the legend of the white giraffe. One night during a storm, Martine saw the white giraffe as the sky was lighted by lighting. Martine found out that the white giraffe's name was Jemmy. Martine and Jemmy become very good friends.

I recommend this book because it is very interesting and heart warming and dramatic. I like the book because I love books about people and their relationship with animals. One part I did not like was when the white giraffe gets beaten in the story.

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LibraryThing member olongbourn

This was a reread for me and a bedtime book I read to my daughters over the course of two weeks or so (some nights lend themselves to longer reading times). We three enjoyed the story, the mystery, of the white giraffe and the question of its existence. The tragedy that caused the granddaughter to

go to South Africa to live with her grandmother may be hard for little ones to read/hear, but the eventual reconnection between grandmother and granddaughter was a satisfying conclusion along with the saving of the animals to be shipped!

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LibraryThing member Rosa.Mill

This was actually a very good book. There is mystery and suspense and magic.

On Martine's 11th birthday there is a fire in her home that kills both of her parents. Martine gets sent to live with a grandmother (Gwynn Thomas) that she has never heard of on a game reserve in South Africa. When Martine

arrives she is picked up by Tendai, one of the game reserve's employees, he takes her to visit his aunt Rose who tells her that she has a gift she must use wisely. Martine has no idea what she is talking about. When she gets to the reserve Martine and her grandmother have a hard time getting along. Her grandmother refuses to tell Martine why her mother never told her about the reserve or her grandparents. Martine hears rumours about a white giraffe and eventually she actually finds it and makes friends with it. There are poachers all over the game reserve trying to catch the giraffe and some of the other animals. Eventually the poachers succeed because she accidentally spills the beans in class about how to summon the giraffe (one of her class mates is the son of one of the poachers.) Martine also discovers that she can heal animals with her hands although she does occasionally need help from outside sources. With the help of Ben a unique class mate, she gets aboard the freighter the giraffe is on and rescues the giraffe and the poachers are caught.

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LibraryThing member Rosa.Mill

This was actually a very good book. There is mystery and suspense and magic.

On Martine's 11th birthday there is a fire in her home that kills both of her parents. Martine gets sent to live with a grandmother (Gwynn Thomas) that she has never heard of on a game reserve in South Africa. When Martine

arrives she is picked up by Tendai, one of the game reserve's employees, he takes her to visit his aunt Rose who tells her that she has a gift she must use wisely. Martine has no idea what she is talking about. When she gets to the reserve Martine and her grandmother have a hard time getting along. Her grandmother refuses to tell Martine why her mother never told her about the reserve or her grandparents. Martine hears rumours about a white giraffe and eventually she actually finds it and makes friends with it. There are poachers all over the game reserve trying to catch the giraffe and some of the other animals. Eventually the poachers succeed because she accidentally spills the beans in class about how to summon the giraffe (one of her class mates is the son of one of the poachers.) Martine also discovers that she can heal animals with her hands although she does occasionally need help from outside sources. With the help of Ben a unique class mate, she gets aboard the freighter the giraffe is on and rescues the giraffe and the poachers are caught.

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LibraryThing member Rosa.Mill

This was actually a very good book. There is mystery and suspense and magic.

On Martine's 11th birthday there is a fire in her home that kills both of her parents. Martine gets sent to live with a grandmother (Gwynn Thomas) that she has never heard of on a game reserve in South Africa. When Martine

arrives she is picked up by Tendai, one of the game reserve's employees, he takes her to visit his aunt Rose who tells her that she has a gift she must use wisely. Martine has no idea what she is talking about. When she gets to the reserve Martine and her grandmother have a hard time getting along. Her grandmother refuses to tell Martine why her mother never told her about the reserve or her grandparents. Martine hears rumours about a white giraffe and eventually she actually finds it and makes friends with it. There are poachers all over the game reserve trying to catch the giraffe and some of the other animals. Eventually the poachers succeed because she accidentally spills the beans in class about how to summon the giraffe (one of her class mates is the son of one of the poachers.) Martine also discovers that she can heal animals with her hands although she does occasionally need help from outside sources. With the help of Ben a unique class mate, she gets aboard the freighter the giraffe is on and rescues the giraffe and the poachers are caught.

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LibraryThing member johnwbeha

My grand-daughter [9] and I love the Lauren St John books, and I particularly love reading them aloud to her. This is book 1 of the Animal Healer series, but not the first one we read together. This fills in the back story and like its successor deals with serious issues on a reasonable level for

its audience. She is a really good writer by any standard!

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LibraryThing member kaitanya64

This rating is a tie breaker between me and my nine year old test reader. I liked the book. Martine's parents die in a fire, and Martine is shipped off to Africa to live with her grandmother on a wildlife preserve. There, she discovers that she has mystical powers to communicate with animals and

nature and helps save an endangered animal. It was well-written and lively. My fellow reader, who is Martine's age, felt the peer bullying was too dark for her taste,and interestingly, as she has spent time in Africa, she felt the book presented the African bush as too threatening and "scary" when she felt it is not. so I would recommend the book, but evaluate the reader's taste before recommending it for younger readers.

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LibraryThing member cubsfan3410

This is my next book club book - it is fantastic!!!!! I hear it's being made into a movie and I can't wait.

by Lauren St. John

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