West With Giraffes - Lynda Rutledge - 4 stars

[Shelly]

This is a delightful book. The book begins with a real event and turns it into a coming-of-age adventure story with some very memorable characters. A pair of giraffes survived a hurricane during their journey across the Atlantic. They were then driven across the country to the San Diego zoo, where they lived for many years. This is the story of the 12 day journey with a barely 18 year old dust-bowl survivor named Woody behind the wheel, the "old man" who is the giraffes' keeper and the young woman who is ready to give up everything to be a photo-journalist. Their adventures and near-death experiences are many to the point of being over the top, but somehow this didn't make the story less enjoyable, especially since there is no record of what really happened on this road trip. What I loved most about this book, is how story is being written down by Woody who is now 105 years old and knows he is running out of time. He writes the story for one particular person which I won't disclose but it sure warmed my heart.
My friend told me to compare this book to This Tender Land which is also a coming-of-age story and a journey across America. That book touched me deeply, and drove home the theme of "home" more than this one, but they certainly both made me feel the pain and loneliness of these impoverished characters.