Jack’s mom is gone, leaving him all alone on a campsite in Maine. Can he find his way back to Boston before the authorities realize what h...
read full description
reviews
Feb 22, 2012
Arthur
rated it: 
Reading Level: Grades 3 - 6
Jack and his mother go camping in Maine over Labor Day weekend, but when Jack wakes up on their first morning, his mother is gone, along with her tent and the car. Jack's mother has done this before, so he's worried... but knows she'll come back eventually. But the end of the weekend looms closer, and Jack's food money has long since run out.
Jack knows that if he tells anyone his mother has disappeared again, he'll be taken away from her, so h More...
Jack and his mother go camping in Maine over Labor Day weekend, but when Jack wakes up on their first morning, his mother is gone, along with her tent and the car. Jack's mother has done this before, so he's worried... but knows she'll come back eventually. But the end of the weekend looms closer, and Jack's food money has long since run out.
Jack knows that if he tells anyone his mother has disappeared again, he'll be taken away from her, so h More...
Nov 30, 2011
Elizabeth
rated it: 
This is a little better than three stars, but certainly not four.
Jack, an 11 year old boy, finds himself unexpectedly alone while on a vacation to Maine, and then has to figure out what he is going to do to reunite himself with his mother.
One of my favorite things about this book was mentioned in the author's note - she went to Maine and visited all the places the character would have gone, and I felt like this really came through in the book. The geography of the story More...
Jack, an 11 year old boy, finds himself unexpectedly alone while on a vacation to Maine, and then has to figure out what he is going to do to reunite himself with his mother.
One of my favorite things about this book was mentioned in the author's note - she went to Maine and visited all the places the character would have gone, and I felt like this really came through in the book. The geography of the story More...
Nov 05, 2011
Richie
rated it:
30 March 2011 SMALL AS AN ELEPHANT by Jennifer Richard Jacobson, Candlewick, March 2011, 275p., ISBN: 978-0-7363-4155-9
"Sweet the rain's new fall, sunlit from heaven
Like the first dewfall, on the first grass"
-- Eleanor Farjeon, "Morning Has Broken"
"He remembered the first time his mother had taken him to see an elephant. He had been really little, no older than four. They'd been at a circus, and he'd hated it -- hated the chaotic m More...
"Sweet the rain's new fall, sunlit from heaven
Like the first dewfall, on the first grass"
-- Eleanor Farjeon, "Morning Has Broken"
"He remembered the first time his mother had taken him to see an elephant. He had been really little, no older than four. They'd been at a circus, and he'd hated it -- hated the chaotic m More...
0 comments
like
(2 people liked it)
Jul 25, 2011
Deb
rated it:
Wow.
Small as an Elephant by Jennifer Richard Jacobson was the perfect book to break the Summer Reading Slump I have been in the past couple weeks. After reading some great books, I've been on the hunt for something different, something that would break the Summer Doldrums of Reading. I certainly found it in this gentle giant of a book.
"Ever since Jack can remember, his mom has been unpredictable, sometimes loving and fun, other times caught in a whirlwind of energy a More...
Small as an Elephant by Jennifer Richard Jacobson was the perfect book to break the Summer Reading Slump I have been in the past couple weeks. After reading some great books, I've been on the hunt for something different, something that would break the Summer Doldrums of Reading. I certainly found it in this gentle giant of a book.
"Ever since Jack can remember, his mom has been unpredictable, sometimes loving and fun, other times caught in a whirlwind of energy a More...
Jun 20, 2011
Heidi
rated it: 
Eleven-year-old Jack is left alone in a tent in Acadia National Park, Maine by his mother, who struggles with mental health issues. For years, Jack has protected her, not wanting to be turned over to state authorities and then to his grandmother. He realizes this is yet another time when his mother is "spinning" and vows to either find her or make his way home to Jamaica Plains, Massachusetts. He has been fascinated with elephants for years; he steals a small plastic elephant which rem
More...
Jun 07, 2011
Heidi
rated it:
As I've read some of the reviews of this book on Goodreads, I've pondered on the various comments. Some people loved it, some people didn't. Some thought it was believable and some did not. I guess it just goes to show that few if any books are universally loved.
This is the story of Jack, and eleven-year-old from Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts, who finds himself alone at a campground in Maine. His mother suffers from mental illness and has abandoned him. Jack knows that if he tells a More...
This is the story of Jack, and eleven-year-old from Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts, who finds himself alone at a campground in Maine. His mother suffers from mental illness and has abandoned him. Jack knows that if he tells a More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Mar 01, 2011
Christine
rated it:
Jack and his mom have gone on a camping trip. He wakes up in the morning and she is gone. He has no idea where she is, but decides he has to find his own way back home. He quickly realizes that his mother must be 'spinning' again, which is what he calls her mental illness. He knows that if anyone knows about his situation that Social Services will take him away from his mother.
Jack is quite resourceful on his journey and finds ways to get food, money, and places to sleep. The poor li More...
Jack is quite resourceful on his journey and finds ways to get food, money, and places to sleep. The poor li More...
Sep 05, 2011
Sarah
rated it:
A difficult read. Jack wakes up the first morning of his camping trip and his mom is missing. But Jack knows he can't tell anyone or he risks loosing his mom forever. So he sets out on his own to find her, looking all over the Maine island, and running into all kinds of trouble tracing his mom. While Jack initially sets off to find his mom, he ends up on the run, knowing while he probably isn't going to find her, he can't be found by anyone else or they'll never have a chance to be a family agai
More...
0 comments
like
(2 people liked it)
Aug 02, 2011
Anne
rated it:
A moving story told from an 11-year-old's perspective. I discovered this book in Bar Harbor while we were camping in Acadia National Park at the same campground where this story begins, so it immediately drew me in. Starts with a real air of mystery -- what happened to Jack's mother? Why would she have left him? -- and the story gradually reveals how Jack both loves his mother fiercely and has had to learn to compensate for her mental illness, putting an adult burden on his childhood. Perha
More...
Apr 29, 2011
Jennifer
rated it:
A heart-tugging book about a little boy who has to make some big decisions and hard choices after his manic-depressive mother abandons him in a campground a couple of states away from his home. 11-year-old Jack gets by on his wits and his constant worry about his missing mother, managing to travel from an island off the coast of Maine almost all the way to his home in Jamaica Plains, Mass. Jack is nuts about elephants, and each chapter is prefaced with a fact about elephants or a quote from a
More...
Dec 22, 2011
Melody
rated it:
A tearjerker book about abandonment and courage, friendship and love. A young boy who tries to reconcile a mother who at times could be a loving, caring parent and at others could be "prickly" or "spinning" and leave him home alone for days.
The story starts with Jack waking up in a small tent in a campground 2 states away from home. He went to sleep after a fight with his mother in the midst of their vacation on Labor Day weekend. He went to sleep in one tent and s More...
The story starts with Jack waking up in a small tent in a campground 2 states away from home. He went to sleep after a fight with his mother in the midst of their vacation on Labor Day weekend. He went to sleep in one tent and s More...
Nov 18, 2011
Jody
rated it:
Small as an Elephant tells the story of young Jack who wakes up to a camping trip on Mt. Desert Island, ME with his mother all alone. She has packed up their stuff and taken off, presumably as a result of an argument from the day before. Reluctant to his out his mother as neglectful, he strikes out on his own, determined to make it back to his home in Jamaica Plain in Boston. Scrounging for food, for water, for shelter, for everything Jack is miserable and alone, but determined to not get caught
More...
Jul 09, 2011
Judi
rated it:
Jack wakes up in a campground in Bar Harbor, Maine and realizes that his mother has taken off without him. As he tries to make sense of his predicament, it becomes clear that this is not the first time his mother has done something odd and rash, and Jack is now on his own. I loved watching how he tried over and over to take care of himself without ratting out his mother--knowing this would mean foster care for him and terrible consequences for her. The writing was tight and the plot made sens
More...
Mar 02, 2011
Laura
rated it:
I won this book in a giveaway and was pretty stinkin' excited! Nothing made me happier than the idea of a free book! Anyway, when I registered to win, I wasn't expecting that it was an adolescent book, so that was a bit of a surprise.
That said, the book was a very quick reads. All in all, less than 2 hours (for an adult reader). I enjoyed the book in a "surface" way, and I can definitely see how adolescents (11-14) would really enjoy the topic, as it falls in the catego More...
That said, the book was a very quick reads. All in all, less than 2 hours (for an adult reader). I enjoyed the book in a "surface" way, and I can definitely see how adolescents (11-14) would really enjoy the topic, as it falls in the catego More...
Sep 17, 2011
MaryAnn
rated it:
Jack, a twelve year old boy, is used to his mother's mood swings. We understand early on that she must be bipolar. But when she leaves him alone at a campsite in Maine, he is desperate to get back home. Jack's self-sufficiency, borne of years of necessity, is impressive and he manages to survive on his own without any money for quite a long time. Desperate to get home, to keep his mother's abandonment a secret (he knows all out Social Services) and fascinated with elephants, we watch the wor
More...
Jul 10, 2011
Cathy
rated it:
Upon beginning this book I was reminded of The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon-a child, after an argument with a parent, is alone in the woods of Maine. The resourcefulness of the main characters is similar as well, but that is where the similarities end. I was then reminded of Oliver Twist-a young boy, fueled by the love of a mother who is out of reach and helped by the kindness of strangers, finds his way home. I loved the elephant facts and references at the start of each chapter. I also thought qu
More...
0 comments
like
(2 people liked it)
Nov 12, 2011
Josh
rated it:
The book follows a boy, Jack, on his summer vacation or so he thinks. Jack wakes up in his tent on the first morning of Labor Day vacation to find no trace of his mother. Jack is initially calm as he begins to search around the campground for his mother but as time goes on and there is not sight of her he begins to worry. Not only is he on his own but he fears that if he goes for help he will be turned over to social services or forced to live with his grandmother. Jack's mother suffers from
More...
Feb 05, 2012
Cheryl
rated it:
Eleven year old Jack wakes up on the first day of his vacation in Maine to find his mother has gone. Her tent, the rental car everything gone. Jack tries to cover up his mother's absence while he hopes she will return. After two days Jack has to admit his mother has left him. He fears she has been involved in an accident but deep down knows that she had one of her spinning times and left him. He doesn't want anyone to know he is alone fearing that he will be taken away from his mother for g
More...
Sep 01, 2011
Cornmaven
rated it:
A rather interesting story about a kid abandoned by his bipolar mother in a national park, and how he tries to survive undetected out in the surrounding towns. I thought it was a fairly accurate portrait of how a child tries to remain loyal at all costs, and beyond normal expectation, to a parent who clearly cannot care for him at the moment. Eventually everthing is taken from him, and yet he continues to hide. Also a good description of how that parent can twist the truth to the point that the
More...
Oct 21, 2011
Scott
rated it:
The tone created by Jacobson is excellent. It rotates from harrowing, dark, scary, happy, funny and adventurous. Few children's books I've read showed the ability to deal with mental illness and the struggle it presents for those involved. This is one of the rare few that handled it excellently.
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
May 05, 2011
Sam
rated it:
A very good page-turner of an adventure story that grabs you from the very beginning and doesn't let go. The premise - child must survive alone in the wilderness - is not a new one, but the set-up is pretty unique: Jack's mother has a mental disability that causes her to check out at times, and in this case the very worst time. Jack wakes up in his tent in Acadia National Park on the first day of vacation, only to go outside and find that his mom's tent, car, and all their gear gone. So, he sets
More...
Jun 07, 2011
Diana
rated it:
An eleven-year-old is abandoned by his bipolar mother while on a camping trip in Maine. Afraid of being permanently taken away from his mom he hides her disappearance and sets out to find an elephant that started his lifelong love of elephants. His journey of survival reminded me some of Cynthia Voigt's Homecoming, Felice Holman's Slake's Limbo, and Martine Leavitt's Heck Superhero. Enjoyable and fast paced entertainment for middle grade readers.
More...
Mar 21, 2011
Kristy
rated it:
As Small as an Elephant tells the story of eleven-year-old Jack who wakes up to find that his mother has abandoned him at Acadia National Park, on what was supposed to be a care-free camping trip. Rather than reporting his mother to the authorities, Jack chooses to protect her by attempting to make the over 200 mile journey back home all on his own. With very little money or food, Jack is forced to make choices he normally wouldn't make in order to survive, one of which is stealing a small toy e
More...
Nov 28, 2010
Stephanie
rated it:
Eleven-year-old Jack wakes up at a Maine campground to discover that his mom has left during the night. Why did she leave? When is she coming back? IS she coming back? Whatever the answers, Jack doesn't want anyone else to know because he's afraid that child services will take him away from his mom, and he wants to hold the small family he has intact.
Small as an Elephant is Jack's journey to find his mother and to get home to Massachusetts.
This book reminded me of Hatchet More...
Small as an Elephant is Jack's journey to find his mother and to get home to Massachusetts.
This book reminded me of Hatchet More...
Jan 28, 2012
Cathy
rated it:
This is a sad but lovely story about an 11-year-old boy, Jack, who's bi-polar mother leaves him at a campsite in Acadia National Park in Maine. After much planning of what they would do when they got there, he wakes up his first morning to find her missing. No car, no tent, nothing. He attempts to act as though nothing is wrong, even making friends with another boy and accompanying him and his family on a trip to the beach. He has to walk miles to the camp store to get food. As a motif, the
More...
Aug 29, 2011
Kath Ann
rated it:
I loved this book, but it was bittersweet. It completely validates the point I've been making lately about books reaching the needs of youth. Jack is eleven a very good example of a youth trying to hold on to someone he loves and afraid to seek help for fear of not only embarrassing himself or her, but of losing her.
What would you do if you woke up in a campground in another state to discover that your mother, the car, and all the belongings were gone?
Small as an Elephant i More...
What would you do if you woke up in a campground in another state to discover that your mother, the car, and all the belongings were gone?
Small as an Elephant i More...
Mar 28, 2011
Christiane
rated it:
Eleven-year-old Jack's mother abandons him on a camping trip in Acadia National Park (Maine) and he has to try and get home on his own, with no money and no transportation. He won’t tell anyone what's happened for fear that he and his mother will be separated. Despite the rather grim subject matter this is a compelling read that may make kids think about how well they would fare if suddenly left on their own. Jack is wonderfully resourceful, perhaps because he’s had to learn independence during
More...
Jan 03, 2012
Tamara
rated it:
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
Mar 16, 2011
Cat
rated it: 
I had a VERY hard time liking this book at all. 11-yr-old Jack is abandoned at a public campsite by his mother, who is mentally ill. Jack then fends for himself, on the run, on an epic journey. First he's trying to find his mother and then he's trying to get to a zoo to see an elephant (he loves elephants). The voice of Jack was at times too young and at times too self-assured. The premise was so disturbing to me that I had trouble reading it all, but had to skim through the book to find ou
More...
2 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Nov 27, 2011
Audrey
rated it:
I really enjoyed this book! I have been to Bar Harbor, so I knew all the landmarks mentioned. I could picture the setting very well. I was a little disappointed at the end-it seemed a little rushed, but not enough to spoil the book!
Jack wakes up at the campsite one morning, only to discover that his mother is nowhere to be found. Jack isn't what you'd call an average child-he isn't immediately distressed. When his mother fails to return after 24 hours, Jack decides to start a search fo More...
Jack wakes up at the campsite one morning, only to discover that his mother is nowhere to be found. Jack isn't what you'd call an average child-he isn't immediately distressed. When his mother fails to return after 24 hours, Jack decides to start a search fo More...
