“The Elephant in the Room,” by Holly Goldberg Sloan, is a beautifully told blend of friendship and family separation, animal welfare, immigration, gender equality and autism. This may sound like a ridiculously complex list of ingredients, but the various threads are woven into a near-perfect story, in which the elephant is not only a metaphor but a vibrant, living character.
Sila Tekin is a Turkish-American girl, born and raised in Oregon, and the book begins with the sudden departure of her mother, Oya, to Turkey, in order to fix some problem with her immigration status. The trip is meant to last a week, but the week turns into months, and we learn that Oya is caught up in red tape that has recently been made much more complex and unfriendly. Sila loves her father, Alp, but “she missed her mother so much that even her skin didn’t feel right.”
Sila’s father was a university-trained mechanical engineer back in Turkey, but now earns his living as a car mechanic. One weekend he is called out to repair an ancient pick-up truck belonging to an old man, Gio, who has an unusual story. A year or so earlier, Gio was part of a work syndicate that won a record mega-millions lottery and he has now bought a huge spread in the country, in memory of his late wife, where he lives a solitary and lonely existence.
Sila and Gio hit it off, not least because they both love animals in general, and elephants in particular. Then, by bizarre chance, Gio has the opportunity to buy a circus elephant named Veda and, on an impulse made possible by his considerable wealth, he does.
In so doing, Gio frees Veda from a life of chains and cages, and lets her loose on his huge piece of land. He soon discovers, however, that caring for an elephant takes a lot of resources — which he has — and a lot of work, which he can’t do unaided.
Meanwhile, the separation from her mother has made Sila very withdrawn at school and, in an effort to help her, the administration assigns her to meet daily with a boy called Mateo, who is isolated from the general school community by autism. After a few awkward, silent meetings, Sila impulsively invites Mateo to visit Gio and Veda, and this turns out to be the key to opening up a friendship between all four of them. After a few visits, Mateo and Sila sign up for a summer vacation internship looking after Veda.
Veda is in her element. She ranges freely across the land, and although she is not exactly safe, or even tame, she and the children form an attachment. Moreover, although they cannot communicate this, both Sila and Veda have in common that they miss their mothers.
As the friendship between Sila and Mateo develops, Mateo’s mother learns about Oya’s immigration difficulties. She also hears that, shortly before these arose, Oya was fired from her job as a hotel maid because she questioned why she was paid less than men doing the same work. In turn, Sila’s father discovers that Mateo’s mother, Rosa, is a lawyer, whose colleague offers to help sort out the family’s stalled immigration issues for free. Better still, Rosa herself is a labor lawyer, and she quietly looks into the events surrounding Oya’s firing.
Sila and Mateo gradually take on more responsibilities in elephant care, and become a vital part of Gio’s life, both practically and emotionally. We discover that his late wife was the children’s much-loved second-grade teacher, and this creates another bond between them.
“The Elephant in the Room” is a moving, but never sentimental, story in which animal and human welfare are entwined together, so that the solution to one person’s (or elephant’s) problems is part of the very satisfying resolution of all of their difficulties.
Reviewing this book is a reminder that it is a perfect read-aloud for 5th-6th graders, who should also be able to read it for themselves. The holidays are almost here, and this would be a welcome gift.
The Village School is in Royalston.