This book sucks VERY badly.

I am warning you.

First point: It seems like Martine Allen, Jeremiah and Tendai are a love triangle. For those who don't know, Martine is an eleven year old girl, Jeremiah is the white giraffe, and Tendai is forty.

Second, NOBODY RIDES GIRAFFES. There's a reason why it never happened.

Thirdly, what's with the odd dialogue??

"Lucky I missed you, hey!"

"There was nothing wrong with that kudu, nothing!"

Who the hell writes like that?

Lauren St. John, that's who.

Ah, yes. That l More...

10/10/08
Audiobook format
I have been listening to this book for about three days now. It is wonderful. Really great. One of the many wonderful things about it is the audiobook reader. This woman is nothing but incredible. I mean it! She is the best audiobook reader I have ever heard. OK. She ties with the reader of Shadow of the Wind. I'm going to be looking for more books narrated by her.

I love having Sloane come to school with me. It is so wonderful to be in the car together. On the drives we More...

Garrett White p5-7

The White Giraffe August 18, 2012
By Lauren St.John
Fiction
181 pages

The White Giraffe is about a girl named Martine. She lives a happy life in England with her Mom and Dad. But one night everything is changed. Martine escapes a threatening house fire that takes the life of her parents. Now Martine has a big decision to make. Does she stay in England at an orphanage or go live in South Africa with her Grandmother she has never met? Martine decides to go live with her grandmother i More...

I liked this book because there are several characters that young readers can connect to - Martine, who lost her parents in a fire and has to live with her Grandmother in another country, Ben, who is quiet, but has many strengths, Jemmy, the White Giraffe who befriends Martine and is the catalyst to her healing over the loss of her parents, the Five Star Gang of Caracal School (the kids that everyone wanted to be-rich, popular and ultra cool) Other adult characters important to the story are Gwy More...

Martine
Sawubona
Grace

Martine is orphaned when her house in England burns down. With no other relatives she is sent to live in South Africa with a grandmother she never even knew existed.
Her grandmother acts non-to-happy to be the caretaker of Martine who is refused answers to the many questions she has about her parents, her grandmother and even the game reserve where she now lives. Rumor has it that there is a white giraffe living there, but most believe that is a myth. The reserve is presently More...

REALLY liked this one but it was really sad. Martine just turns 11 years old and she and her family live happily in London. Until a horrible thing happens when her house catches on fire in the middle of the night and her parents die in it. She now is forced to move in with her Grandmother who lives in South Africa. The journey goes on when she gets there she never knew she had a Grandma. On the reserve she lives in, Her grandma tells her stories the people always tell about a white giraffe, sayi More...

Overall, this tale of a girl reluctantly sent to live with her grandmother on a game preserve in South Africa is a fun adventure with a lot of animals and a tiny bit of culture thrown in. However, I found the inclusion of magic somewhat disturbing, similar to other semi-fantasy books set in Africa. The portrayal of blacks as some sort of shaman always tends to disturb me, as it seems somewhat unlikely that this is an attitude that they would be comfortable with. Most blacks are Christian and whi More...

Grades 4-7

Black and white sketch drawings are interspersed through this captivating story set in modern-day South Africa. The author does not dwell on the opening tragedy, framing it as something that is necessary for the main character to fulfill her destiny, but it feels a bit inauthentic because most children in the target audience understand that the implications of losing one's parents are immense.

That this incongruity does not weigh down the story is a testament to the fast-moving, well-r More...

After a fire kills her parents, 11-year-old Martine leaves England to live with her grandmother on a game reserve in South Africa. On her first day there she meets a healer who claims that Martine has a powerful gift. Her grandmother doesn't seem to want her and the kids at her new school call her a witch. Her only real friend is the shy white giraffe that she sometimes sees at night. When the giraffe is threatened by poachers, Martine resolves to protect him. Who told the poachers about the whi More...

I just finished The White Giraffe by Lauren St. John and it was wonderful. A student recommended it to me and she was right this book was a fun and fast read. Martine, and middle school aged girl loses her parents in a fire right at the beginning of the book and has to move to South Africa (Cape Town) to live with a grandmother she didn't know she had and one who seems not too excited to have her there. The book centers around several mysteries about Martine's past and the possibly mythical whit More...

martine's parents are killed in a fire, and she must leave her home in England to live on a wildlife reserve in Africa with a grandmother she never knewshe had. As soon as Martine arrives at the reserve, she hears whisperings of a mythical animal living there-a white giraffe. No one has ever seen te animal, but i leaves footprints behind

I liked this book and I think it was very interesting. It is about a girl named Martine who moves to South Africa to live with her grandmother because her parents died in a fire on the day of her 11th birthday. Her grandmother lives in an African wildlife reserve called Sawubona and there are many rumors about a mythical white giraffe that lives there. Nobody believes the white giraffe exists, but some people say they have seen it’s footprints. Martine’s grandmother and the people that work in t More...

A girl whose parents are killed in a house fire must move to South Africa where her only remaining relative, her grandmother, lives. Martine has never met her grandmother. She does not even know if her grandfather is still alive. The stuff that this girl doesn't know is just plain puzzling, for instance, if her mother ever lived in South Africa with her grandmother. Or what her grandmother did for a living. It strains credulity. When the girls goes to school at first she is a member of the hot More...

After Martine's parents are killed in a fire she is sent to Africa to live with the grandmother she has never met and who at first glance doesn't seem to want her there. When she arrives in Africa she hears the myth of the white giraffe, but all the adults in her life tell her there is no truth to the myth. Then one night while looking out her window, Martine sees the giraffe and this beings a wonderful journey and adventure.

While I did enjoy this unique story I don't know that I would have lik More...

The night of her birthday, Martine's London house catches fire and her parents are killed. She is sent to South Africa to live with the grandmother she never knew existed. Her grandmother wants nothing more than to pretend Martine isn't there, so the young girl, slips out each night and roams the wildlife preserve where she lives. She soon meets and befriends the mythical white giraffe. Evil lurks at the preserve and Martine must do her best to save the giraffe.

As I read the book, I willed mysel More...

In the manner of The Secret Garden, A Little Princess, and Pollyanna, an orphaned girl is sent to live with a relative who may or may not want her. This time, Martine, is sent to Grandmother's game preserve in South Africa.

I'm not sure who recommended this book to me, but it reminds me so much of a show I've seen on BBC America, that it might have been one of those "based on the book" captions that appear on tv.

I wonder if there is a sequel? It was uplifting and just plain nice. I read it in two More...

11 year old Martine lives in England. Her parents died in a house fire and she is forced to go to South Africa and live with her grandmother she didn't even know about. Martine finds out about a white giraffe that lives on her grandmothers game reserve. One night she saw the white giraffe by the watering hole. She went outside in the pouring rain but he was gone. When she turned around to head back to the house a snake tryed to attack her but the giraffe came and stomped on the snake, and thats More...

After Martine's parents are killed in a house fire she is sent to live with her grandmother in South Africa. Adapting to a new home and getting to know her grandmother, who she has never meet before, has become a challenge; she has minimal friends at school and seldom support at home, it seems like a nightmare for Martien.Until she hears the legend of the White Giraffe: The White Giraffe is famous at the Swabona animal reserve for having magic powers for the individual who can successfuly ride t More...

When a fire kills all that Martine holds dear she is sent to live with her grandmother on a wildlife game reserve in Africa. Why did her mum never tell her she had a grandmother? Why must she go and live with someone who doesn’t want her? What “gift” does she possess? Why are there so many secrets? Martine befriends the mystical white giraffe as she works through her grief and tries to answer all the questions floating in her mind. The story unfolds in the lush countryside of Cape Town, South Af More...

When Martine�s home in England burns down, killing her parents, she must go to South Africa to live on a wildlife game preserve, called Sawubona, with the grandmother she didn�t know she had. Almost as soon as she arrives, Martine hears stories about a white giraffe living in the preserve. But her grandmother and others working at Sawubona insist that the giraffe is just a myth. Martine is not so sure, until one stormy night when she looks out her window and locks eyes with Jemmy, a young silver More...

"The White Giraffe" engages me to the point where I began to feel as if I am one of the characters or in the journey/adventure of one of them. The events that take place towards the beginning of this book lead to a young girl (Martine Allen) being sad, lost, and confused, but in return she is placed in a "magical," and amazing adventure. Martine is sent to live with her grandmother on an African wildlife reserve where she is determined to find- The White Giraffe. This giraffe is said to be legen More...

This is about a young girl, who loses her parents in a fire and has to live with an unknown grandmother on a game reserve in Africa. Her destiny is fulfilled as she discovers a friend in a white giraffe. The book is magical and cute. I believe it dismisses the devastation that would realistically come from losing both parents, but I enjoyed the story and the characters. I liked the ending where the main character speaks to an elderly tribal "medicine woman," who says, "We all make mistakes, chil More...

This was great! It's not brand new, and I only heard about it when a kid came in asking for it and we didn't own it. I bought it for my library and I'm glad I did. Martine's parents die in a fire, so she is shipped from England off to South Africa, where her grandmother runs a nature preserve. There is a legend about a magical white giraffe that roams the reserve - but most people say it's only a fairy tale. Then one night Martine sees the giraffe from her window. It turns out that her destiny i More...

I read The White Giraffe with Anna and it is a great one for her age group (8-10 years). After a family tragedy, Martine is sent to live with her grandmother on a game reserve in Africa. She is immediately captivated by the wildlife and drawn by the mystery of a legendary white giraffe.

In this first of a four book series, Lauren St. John's writing appeals to children who love animals, mystery, and adventure. Drawing from her own childhood experience in Africa, St. John brings the beauty and allu More...

When Martine's parents are killed in a horrific house fire, she is sent to live with her grandmother in Africa. The game reserve is a beautiful place, though Martine quickly discovers that she has many questions about her family and the animals that live there. Part magical realism, part mystery, this story will appeal to wild animal lovers in grades 5 and 6.

I do have a complaint about the audiobook -- the narrator, who has a lovely South African accent, plays up the narration a bit too much. S More...

Martine-tytön vanhemmat kuolevat tulipalossa, ja niinpä tyttö joutuu lähtemään isoäitinsä luokse Sawubonan luonnonsuojelualueelle Etelä-Afrikkaan. Siellä hän saa kuulla legendan valkoisesta kirahvista, jonka selässä ratsastavalla lapsella olisi valta kaikkiin eläimiin ja kyky parantaa ja ymmärtää niitä. Ja kuinkas ollakaan, Sawubonassa on nähty valkoinen kirahvi...

Lisäksi seikkailussa hyörii mukana nippu salametsästäjiä, jokunen koulukiusaaja, esi-isien henkien kanssa seurusteleva poppanainen j More...

Eleven-year-old Martine goes to live with her grandmother on a game preserve in South Africa after the death of her parents in a house fire. Her grandmother doesn't seem to want her and she doesn't fit in at school. But Grace, a local native, tells her she has the "gift" and her coming has been foretold by the ancestors. Then Martine discovers a rare white giraffe and everything begins to change for her. But there are problems as well, who killed her grandfather? Who is poaching animals from the More...

I read this book to prepare for a middle grade book group I'm leading this summer. It was a fun read, darker than some which made it far more readable for me. The heroine, Martine, loses her parents and goes to Africa to live with her grandmother on a game reserve. Once there, Martine discovers Africa gets in her blood; she's meant to be there. And if she had any doubts, the prophecy soon takes those. Deeper themes can be discussed with older kids, animals and the exotic flavors of Africa are fa More...