One Amazing Elephant

High’s (Planet Pregnancy) well-balanced novel about love, forgiveness, and the tightrope walk of friendship and family is centered in Gibsonton, Fla., “the strangest town in the nation.” Unlike the flamboyant circus side of 12-year-old Lily Rose Pruitt’s family—including her dear Grandpa Bill, dubbed “the Giant” at more than seven feet tall, and her estranged mother, Trullia, a trapeze artist—cautious Lily bottles up her emotions and avoids risks: “Keep it inside. That’s my motto.” Lily lives with her father in West Virginia, but when her grandfather dies unexpectedly, she flies to Florida alone for the funeral. There, she confronts her fear of the Amazing Queenie Grace (her grandfather’s elephant), forms friendships and makes a few enemies, tries to protect Queenie Grace from harm, and eventually comes to terms with her mother. The chapters alternate gracefully between Lily’s and Queenie Grace’s perspectives, and High effectively sketches how Lily gradually champions the elephant and recognizes larger issues around the ways performers abuse circus animals. Ages 8–12. Agent: Rosemary Stimola, Stimola Literary Studio. (Feb.)