Water For Elephants By Sara Gruen

Have you ever dreamed of joining the circus? This book may be the closest you will ever get to that dream. You feel like you are there. You can smell the popcorn and hear the commotion from the big top. I loved this book. It begins with the narrator Jacob...sitting in a nursing home remembering his life in the circus. The book flips from present day back to his circus life. It is full of hope, romance and adventure all wrapped into one. I just kept wanting to read more. I think I finished the book in three days.
Jacob graduated from veterinary school and soon after lost his parents. Unsure of how he will handle their deaths and their unpaid debts at the height of the Depression he runs away from it all and ends up joining the circus. He encounters an elephant that only understands Polish...his first language. He bonds with the elephant and becomes her trainer and her protector. The book is a story of his time in the circus and the events that led him to be in the nursing home. The circus life is unforgettable and this book will leave you wanting to join a circus too....or maybe just think about what it would be like.