Home Now
Kindergarten-Grade 3—Sieta, a young African girl, is having a difficult time accepting her "home now" with her aunt in a busy town. She longs for the life she knew with her loving parents in a friendly village. During a school trip to the elephant park, she forms a special bond with a baby elephant—also an orphan. The connection helps her heal and embrace her new life. The text and illustrations provide a positive glimpse of life in Africa. The evocative watercolors effectively convey the child's loneliness, isolation, and, finally, emotional rejuvenation. The understated narration also creates a poignant sense of her loss. Unfortunately, it is never fully explained. Readers only know that "Sieta saw her mother getting sicker…and thinner…and quieter, and her father getting gentler and softer and sadder. One day they were just not there anymore." Young readers are bound to be left with many questions. An endnote explains the effects of AIDS on many African families. The book will need to be introduced to be fully understood and appreciated. It may fill a void since there are few books about AIDS for this age level, and none set in Africa.—Heide Piehler, Shorewood Public Library, WICopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.