The World on Either Side by Diane Terrana (from a Two Thumbs Up reviewer)
Sunday, Dec 08, 2019 at 2:23pm
The World on Either Side starts out with a young girl named Valintine, who has recently lost her boyfriend from an accident. Her mother decides to go on a trip with her to the other side of the world. She ends up meeting a mysterious boy and finds a baby elephant. The two risk everything, including their lives, to try and save it and keep it from the poachers that has killed the elephants family.
There are some things that I would change in this, mainly when the flashbacks seemed to happen. I got confused a couple times since they just seem to happen in the middle of a chapter, but I do believe that without them you wouldn't be able to understand some parts of the story. As a warning there is talk of attempted rape and suicide, as well as animal death, but nothing too graphic. The ending of the book came as a shock to me, which I do believe is good. Who wants to read a book where you know what is going to happen at the end? Being surprised is one thing I love about reading, and this book for sure brought a lot of that. I always do say that a good book is when it is able to bring me to tears, and I admit this one did a couple of times. The characters are well thought out and all have their own personalities. Some books seem to be dull when they have multiple characters, but this one wasn't one of those. I could imagine in my head exactly what they would look like.
- Sally, a Two Thumbs Up reviewer
| Categories: Saskatoon, Winnipeg, Two Thumbs Up |
See:
The World on Either Side
- Diane Terrana 
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After the death of her boyfriend, sixteen-year old Valentine stops going to school, quits seeing her friends and, finally, won't leave her bed. Desperate for her daughter to recover, Valentine's mother takes her on a trek in Thailand. In the mountains north of Chiang Mai, Valentine finds a world she didn't know existed, where houses are on stilts and elephants still roam wild. She learns about the Burmese civil war and the relentless violence against the Karen and Rohingya peoples.
Then she meets Lin, a mysterious young elephant keeper tormented by his hidden past, and an orphaned elephant calf, pursued by violent poachers. Together, the three flee deep into the jungle, looking for refuge and redemption.
