Running Wild

Nine year old Will just heard that his father is dead. His grandmother suggested that he and his mother should go on holiday in India for some time out. For Christmas he gets to ride on a real life elephant on the beach, called Oona. But Oona is acting strange, and Will soon finds out why... As the tsunami hits, Oona runs into the jungle with Will still on her back. He yells at her to stop, but she moves deeper into the jungle, even when the tsunami is long gone. As the days pass, Will learns to trust Oona. Her instincts always seem to be right and she easily finds them food. But everything changes when they meet a group of orang-utans. A group of orang-utans who are captured by illegal traders. And so is Will... Is he ever going to make it back to safety and civilisation? Does he even want to?

There where a few things that bothered me in the book. First, when the tsunami hits, Will yells at Oona to run faster. Then at her to stop, but then he gets scared and yells at her to run again. It was a bit like he could not really make up his mind. Secondly he is supposed to be 9, but when he realizes that his mother is probably dead he does not cry. I think the book would make more sense if he where, say, 11 or 12.  Except for those few things this book was amazing! It gets better and better towards the end. It has a strong message about pollution and that we should respect nature and the animals in it. Last but not least, I felt that I had to share this touching poem from the book:

  

'When all the trees

have been cut down,

when all the animals 

have been hunted,

when all the waters

are polluted, 

when all the air is

unsafe to breathe,

only then will you

discover you cannot 

eat money.'

(Cree prophecy, North America)

Pages:347

Pictures: a few