The Elephant in the Room - Holly Goldberg Sloan

Book Summary

It's been almost a year since Sila's mother travelled halfway around the world to Turkey, hoping to secure the immigration paperwork that would allow her to return to her family in the United States.

The long separation is almost impossible for Sila to withstand. But things change when Sila accompanies her father (who is a mechanic) outside their Oregon town to fix a truck. There, behind an enormous stone wall, she meets a grandfatherly man who only months before won the state lottery. Their new alliance leads to the rescue of a circus elephant named Veda, and then to a friendship with an unusual boy named Mateo, proving that comfort and hope come in the most unlikely of places.

A moving story of family separation and the importance of the connection between animals and humans.

What really stood out for me in this book was all the wonderful friendships. Sila quickly has Gio in her thrall and the relationship between them is so sweet as the get to know each other. She is such a friendly girl that at first, it's hard to understand why she's such a loner. Sila and Mateo's friendship starts off forced by their school but grows once they are left to themselves. Both Gio and Sila have beautiful connections with Veda, despite her being an elephant!

I really liked how we got to experience the feelings and views of so many characters, even Veda. The way it was written was actually so believable. I even learned a bit about elephants, flamingos and bears. This really was a lovely book and the ending was the most beautiful thing, though really not at all in the way I expected.

The book is released in paperback on 5th August but if you can't wait that long, the ebook is out on 2nd March!

There are a lot of different recipes for a Pink Elephant cocktail so I just went with what I had and made this one. It turned out delicious so I'm happy! In a cocktail glass, pour 1 shot of vodka with a squeeze of lime. Add in 1/4 shot of chambord and top with lemonade. Unfortunately the photo makes it look very orange instead of pink!