Magician's Elephant, The

In historical Baltese, when orphan Peter spends his food money on a fortune teller to find whether his sister, who he thought died at birth, might still be alive, he is greeted with a mysterious response that an elephant will lead the way. Simultaneously, a magician summons an elephant with disastrous results and as Peter and the elephant embark on separate journeys, what they really might need is each other. Told from multiple viewpoints, this enchanting, fairy tale-like story has well-developed, relatable characters, deals with topics of hope, belonging, family, and magic, and would be useful as a read-aloud, literature circle, class, or independent novel.