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Review: The Hope of Elephants

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The Hope of Elephants
By Amanda Rawson Hill
Watertown, MA : Charlesbridge, [2022]. Fiction. 476 pgs.

In this beautiful novel in verse, Cass loves baseball, elephants, and poetry. Her life is going great until her father's cancer returns and their yearly World Series trip is put at risk. Additionally, Cass learns that there's a 50/50 chance that she has the same cancer gene as her father. She leans on her support group of friends, learns the inspiring nature of elephants, and tries to decide if she wants to take the test that will reveal the truth about her genes. 

This book had me in tears. It was beautiful, heartbreaking, moving, and also full of hope. I loved how the book was broken up into bite size poems because I felt like it was easier to digest the more difficult/tragic material. There is raw emotion, personal storytelling, and a main character that you will both resonate with and root for. Full of faith, sadness, hope, heart, joy, and despair, this book is one that will stick with you long after you've turned the last page.
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