West With Giraffes by Lynda Rutledge

West with Giraffes by Lynda Rutledge
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I read this book as part of the Albright College Book Club, February read, and highly recommended by Deb Tarrant (she read & discussed in her other book club). Woody Wilson Nickel is a teen during the Dust Bowl who has lost everything---his family and his home and with no food or money he has been traveling on trains like a hobo but when he sets his sight on the two giraffes right after the 1938 hurricane; he finds a purpose and mightily follows the rig as the giraffes are being taken to the San Diego Zoo. When Old Man (Riley Jones) takes on Woody to finish the trip as the giraffes driver---the adventures (many good and many bad) abound for the next 12 days. The giraffes (Boy and Girl) are beautiful, friendly, and take to Woody right away (Woody falls in love with these magnificent animals) which helps many times over during the trip from New York to California. I also enjoyed the chapters interspersed with Woody at 105 feverishly writing his story so it is not forgotten. Rutledge does a magnificent job with how these giraffes are able to grab people (and us) to truly become mesmerized by these animals, and enjoy their beauty as they travel in their rig to a safe home in the zoo where they will be taken care of and live a safe, long life but boy do they have to endure quite a few things as they travel! A wonderful book!

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