Title: West with Giraffes
Author: Lynda Rutledge
Narrated by: Danny Campbell
Publisher: Brilliance
Audio
Length:
Approximately 10 hours and 28 minutes
Source: Physical book from the Kewaunee Public Library
and audiobook purchased from audible.com
Have you ever made a road trip with an animal? Our previous dogs Samson (Keeshond) and Jack
(Mutt) loved traveling and went on many trips with us. Unfortunately, our current dogs are not good long-distance
travelers.
Woodrow Wilson Nickel is 105 and he is finally telling
his story of an extraordinary trip he took in 1938 helping to bring two giraffes
who survived a hurricane across the country to the San Diego Zoo. The twelve days Woody spends driving the
giraffes across America is the adventure of a lifetime. Will he get the giraffes to the San Diego Zoo
safely?
My thoughts on this novel:
· I read this book in September for the Page-turners Book Club at the Kewaunee Public Library. Everyone in book club loved it. It is an engaging story that touched on a variety of issues that were important in the 1930s (and now). The story was also positive and didn’t sink into the darkness that was Woody’s life during the dust bowl with dust pneumonia and the death of his family.
· This was also the November pick for the Rogue Book Club. We had a small meeting of four members with two of us finishing the book and loving it and the other two not finished and finding it a slow read.
· I LOVED the audiobook narration. The narrator sounded like an old timey news man.
· This book did remind me a bit of Water for Elephants.
· This was a great road trip book set during the great depression that featured The Great Hurricane of 1938. I did not previously know about this hurricane.
· This book was based on a true event. Two giraffes were rescued after the Great Hurricane of 1938 and traveled across the country to the San Diego Zoo. It was a positive news event for those that were living through the great depression.
· I liked how Woody was able to convince the Old Man to help him to drive the giraffes. The two of them together were a great pair.
· Augusta Red is a spunky photographer that follows Woody and the Old Man. Woody finds her exasperating and attractive.
· I loved the love for animals throughout the book.
· Belle Benchley was the world’s first female zookeeper and she worked at the San Diego Zoo. She makes an appearance in this book.
· Woody must confront his past in order to move on with his life.
· There was a great author’s note at the end of the book on how she found newspaper clippings on this amazing story, and it inspired her to write the book.
· There were also great historical notes too on the real-life people, places, events, etc.
· I would classify this book as historical fiction, coming of age, adventure, romance, road trip, giraffes, and book club.
Overall, West with Giraffes by Lynda Rutledge was a positive
historical fiction story on a previously unknown to me real life event. It’s a great book club read.
