Reviews for Hare in the Elephant's Trunk

The orphaned "Lost Boys of Sudan," the most likely to survive of the two million people displaced during the late 1980s and early 1990s, seek refuge in Ethiopia and Kenya. In A Hare in the Elephant's Trunk, author Jan L. Coates takes the experiences of one real-life survivor, Jacob Deng, and creates a vivid and detailed story.

Young Jacob plays peacefully in his Sudanese village. He makes clay figures, gives his little sister rides on his back, and watches his beautiful mama wash clothes at the river and grind millet for supper porridge. Singing and storytelling are a large part of their lives. They sing special songs to go to sleep, to soothe the cows, or to urge a baby to come.

Then war intrudes. Jacob's uncle explains it this way: "The government in the north wants to get rid of all the black Africans in Southern Sudan, or have us do their work." The southern Sudan's oil and fertile land are also desirable assets. When Jacob is seven years old, soldiers attack his village, and he must flee.

Jacob's big feet have earned him his nickname, "the Hare." Like the fabled small hare who outsmarts an elephant, he wishes he could overcome the elephant-soldiers who ride in to the village shooting and stabbing, while tanks crush and helicopters drop fire on the people's huts. Amid explosions and the screams of people and animals, Jacob runs into the forest. He never sees his beloved mother again. Her encouragement, however, stays with him: Wadeng, or hope for tomorrow, and her advice: "An education will give you the tools to carve a better future for our people."

As a refugee, Jacob is tempted to fight to save his land by joining the Sudan People's Liberation Army. At heart, however, he would rather write down the stories of his heritage. He becomes a translator for aid workers in the refugee camps where he stays. Education becomes his focus.

Young readers will find admirable qualities in Jacob, as he perseveres through months of thirst, hunger, bloody wounds wrapped in leaves, walking many miles from grasslands through blistering sand, and escaping ravenous crocodiles while crossing rivers to reach safety. The author includes interviews and a glossary that further explain how the story came to be written. This book puts into perspective the peace and educational opportunities that readers enjoy. Proceeds from the novel will be shared with Jacob's foundation for children's learning, Wadeng Wings of Hope.

Jacob Deng was 7 years old when the northern militia invaded and destroyed his village in Southern Sudan, sending Jacob and thousands of other boys on an exodus to Ethiopia. The "never-ending chain" of boys followed the rising sun to safety, braving lion and crocodile attacks, mosquitoes and malaria, poisonous snakes, scorpions, gunfire and bombs. After three years in Pinyudo Refugee Camp, the refugees were chased out of Ethiopia and walked on to the Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya, where Jacob began to sense his place in the world as a storyteller, translator and writer. Inspired by Jacob's true story, Coates writes vividly and poetically, establishing a clear historical context for her inspirational tale. One sketchy map is included, but a series of good maps would have helped young readers better visualize Jacob's journey. A good match with Linda Sue Park's A Long Walk to Water (2010) and Mary Williams' picture book Brothers in Hope, illustrated by R. Gregory Christie (2005). From the beginning, Jacob Deng embodied the spirit of Wadeng, the faith that tomorrow will be better, and by the end of the tale, Jacob as storyteller and writer is poised to enter a wider world, where "there are as many books in the world as there are stars in the African sky." (Historical fiction. 12 & up)

 

Gr 8 Up--In 1987, seven-year-old Jacob Deng's world explodes into chaos and confusion; his village in Southern Sudan, Duk Padiet, is attacked and destroyed by the Northern militia. The boy is suddenly left to wander the continent on his way to a refugee camp in Ethiopia and, later, Kenya. Jacob does not, however, wander alone. He is one link in a "never-ending chain" of boys. Lions, malaria, guns, and war threaten these "lost boys" at every turn. Throughout his tremendous and harrowing journey, Jacob thinks about Mama and strives to find those things that will lift him from the murk of war and tumult. And he learns to read. This novel, based on the life of the real Jacob Deng, provides insight into the struggles of the Sudan as well as a strong, clear voice. Coates gives an unflinching and poetic glimpse into the life of a boy who chose hope in the face of adversity. An interview with Deng is included.--Naphtali L. Faris, Youth Services Consultant, Missouri State Library, Jefferson City, MO