All About Animals discussion

Discuss "Echo and the Magical Whispers" here.
March 2014 group pick.

I wrote a review of, "Echo and the Magical Whispers" in November, so I'll paste it here for our group.

This is a moving well told story about a herd of African Elephants which is a attacked by hunters, resulting in the death of Long Horn, the dominant bull elephant. Mary an eleven year old girl tries to prevent the slaughter and runs from the vehicle just before the elephants charge the hunters. She is knocked unconscious, but when she come round she is being protected by Echo, a young elephant and daughter of the slaughtered bull. Mary finds she can communicate with the elephants, and they take her on their journey to the sacred grounds where the bones of Long Horn can be preserved and ensure the ascent of his soul to heaven. The journey is difficult and dangerous, and the herd has to contend with poachers and a rival herd, headed by an out-caste elephant, plotting revenge.

Though intended primarily for young adults it will appeal to animal lovers of all ages. A previous reviewer has rightly compared it to Kipling's "Jungle Book". "Echo and the Magical whispers" does not avoid the cruelty inflicted on the surviving herds of wild African Elephants. Profits from this book will go to help elephant protection charities.

I just got the kindle version; looking forward to reading this!!!!!!!

Thanks for the interest guys! I'm happy to answer questions and join in the discussion.

Elephants are magnificent, highly intelligent creatures with extraordinary social and family ties. Tragically, poachers kill an elephant every 15 minutes in Africa to meet demand for ivory. The book was written to raise awareness of this slaughter and the threat of extinction for this iconic species.
Paul

Thanks Paul. Maybe you could write some questions here for the group to start discussions.

Sure Barbara. The book is a fantasy aimed at a broad range of readers, young and old. I try to place myself in the thoughts of Echo and the rest of the herd and view from their perspective the impact of humans. This involves - of necessity - a transition from speaking 'English' to speaking 'Elephant'. Mary, as a human outsider, has to make this transition and attempt to understand the elephants' belief system. It would be interesting to hear from the group whether you think this works.

The book deals with a painful subject - the poaching of elephants for their ivory - but I try to present this theme in a way that, whilst real, is not too shocking for a younger reader. Hopefully again this works, and I would appreciate your candid observations!

happy reading
Paul

I am about half way through and I have a comment about Paul's question re Mary speaking Elephant. I do think that works as they need to communicate to fit the story line, but I think there needs to be some discussion of how she got there. It seems kind of quick that she spends time with an elephant and all of a sudden knows their language. It would be interesting to have a chapter about this transition.

Re your other question about poaching: yes it is a difficult topic, but I think you handled it well for the YA readers.

I just finished the book, and I found it to be enjoyable. This was the first book I had read from the elephants' perspective! You also did a nice job bringing the issue of poaching to the forefront.