The Warm Place

The Warm Place

From BooklistGr. 4^-7. Good fantasy changes the way the world looks, and that's what Farmer's book does. Ruva, the novel's central figure, is a young giraffe captured in Africa and brought to a zoo near San Francisco. At the book's conclusion, she has found her way back to Africa, with the help of a diverse alliance that includes a witty chameleon, a rat named Rodentus von Stroheim the Third, and a boy named Jabila. The novel's end is not unexpected, but the recasting of the relationship between animals and human beings is refreshing: Farmer tells the story from the animals' point of view and gives King Solomon a background in shape-changing. With witty, crisp dialog, this novel will be a fine read. Mary Harris VeederWhen Ruva, a young giraffe, is captured and sent to a zoo in San Francisco, she calls upon two rats, a street-smart chameleon, a runaway boy, and all the magical powers of the animal world to return to "the warm place" that is home.From Publishers WeeklyFarmer, whose The Ear, the Eye and the Arm received a 1995 Newbery Honor, confirms her place among the most inventive YA writers of the day with this rollicking tale. Ruva, a baby giraffe kidnapped by poachers, despairs of ever again seeing her mother or her home in central Africa. Fortunately, during the ocean crossing she meets up with Rodentus von Stroheim the Third, a most unusual rat who takes it upon himself to educate her. She puts his training to work at the horrible Dante's Zoo outside San Francisco, learning to trust her instincts in finding her home (the "Warm Place"), practicing giraffe magic (disappearing into the background) and, finally, escaping with the help of a smart-mouthed chameleon named Nelson and a Templeton-esque rat named Troll. The motley crew stows away on an Africa-bound yacht, but the journey home is fraught with peril, not the least of which are the evil Slopes, a family of demons who have enslaved Jabila, a runaway boy searching for a "Warm Place" of his own. Following in the grand tradition of Roald Dahl's fantastical James and the Giant Peach, Farmer's tale careens from one over-the-top situation to the next; laced with dry humor and populated by memorable characters, it is pure delight. Ages 9-11.Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.From School Library JournalGrade 4-6?Ruva, a young wild giraffe, is captured and taken to a San Francisco zoo. She thinks only of returning to Africa, and with the help of a scruffy rat named Troll and a cynical chameleon, Nelson, she makes her way back to the same boat, the Apocalypso, commanded by the evil Slope family, that brought her to America. On board, her old friend and tutor Rodentus von Stroheim the Third, and a young boy, Jabila, work together with the animals to carry out a plan to free themselves from the tyranny of their captors. The plot is fresh and fast-moving, and many of the details inventive?Strangleweeds and Gross Green Sea-Going Sargasso Snails play a large part in the group's eventual freedom, and intriguing Biblical stories told from the animals' point of view add interest. However, grumpy Nelson's anti-female bias quickly becomes tiresome. Children new to animal fantasy should respond well to the book's sense of adventure and excitement, and to the feel-good ending. Although this is not quite in the same league as such modern-day classics as Robert C. O'Brien's Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH (Atheneum, 1971) or Dick King-Smith's animal stories, it does showcase yet another side of the multifaceted author who created the highly original The Ear, the Eye and the Arm (Orchard, 1994).?Ellen Fader, Oregon State Library, SalemCopyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.