In the desperate search for food during a desolate winter, Marak leads his pack of wolves into the cattle country of Wyoming. Lying in wait for them near the town of Elliot Lake is a hunter, hired by a local rancher, Daniels.
The Viccary family is new to Elliot Lake, and thirteen-year-old Ed Viccary is having difficulty adjusting to small-town life – not least because of his conservationist views. When Marak is critically injured by the hunter, it is Ed’s father who finds him bleeding in the snow. The local people insist that they turn the wolf over to Daniels, and the Viccarys reluctantly concede. But Ed is appalled, and in the dead of night he frees Marak, who escapes into the wilderness.
Marak is on his own, with every wolf pack trying to drive him away. Eventually, he meets a solitary female, and they begin to carve out their own territory. But Daniels and his hunters are closing in …
The Viccary family is new to Elliot Lake, and thirteen-year-old Ed Viccary is having difficulty adjusting to small-town life – not least because of his conservationist views. When Marak is critically injured by the hunter, it is Ed’s father who finds him bleeding in the snow. The local people insist that they turn the wolf over to Daniels, and the Viccarys reluctantly concede. But Ed is appalled, and in the dead of night he frees Marak, who escapes into the wilderness.
Marak is on his own, with every wolf pack trying to drive him away. Eventually, he meets a solitary female, and they begin to carve out their own territory. But Daniels and his hunters are closing in …
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Reviews
Captures perfectly the arbitrary, necessary cruelty of a predator and the deliberate, pointless cruelty of human hunters. Children will rush through this story ... We come to know Marek so well that his death is realistically a bitter shock.
ELEPHANT BEN: 'An exciting and immensely enjoyable adventure story ... A great read for any young wildlife enthusiast.'
Review of 'Elephant Ben' from a child judge of the Stockton Award: '... definitely the most brilliant book I ever read. It's a definite 10/10!' Frederick Nattrass, aged 9.
There is both an urgency and a deftness in the writing. This book is highly recommended.
ELEPHANT BEN: 'compelling reading'
ELEPHANT BEN: 'An exciting and immensely enjoyable adventure story ... A great read for any young wildlife enthusiast.'
TORN EAR: 'I thoroughly recommend this.'
KIMBA: 'Geoffrey Malone continues to be one of the great specialists of the animal novel.'
ELEPHANT BEN: 'compelling reading'
Captures perfectly the arbitrary, necessary cruelty of a predator and the deliberate, pointless cruelty of human hunters. Children will rush through this story ... We come to know Marek so well that his death is realistically a bitter shock.
There is both an urgency and a deftness in the writing. This book is highly recommended.
TORN EAR: 'I thoroughly recommend this.'
KIMBA: 'Geoffrey Malone continues to be one of the great specialists of the animal novel.'
Review of 'Elephant Ben' from a child judge of the Stockton Award: '... definitely the most brilliant book I ever read. It's a definite 10/10!' Frederick Nattrass, aged 9.