Endangered Book Review

Endangered, by Eliot Schrefer , is a book about a girl and a bonobo trying to stay alive in the vast forest of the Congo. The book starts out with Sophie riding in a taxi to go visit her mom. Along the way they drive past a beaten bonobo and his owner. Sophie stops the car, buys the bonobo and brings it back to her moms bonobo sanctuary where she takes care of it. She names the bonobo Otto and gets the sick little monkey healthy again. As soon as Otto gets better her mom leaves the sanctuary to release some of the healthier bonobos in to the wild. After her mom leaves Sophie and the workers at the sanctuary learn that the president of the Congo has been killed and rebels are taking over and destroying the country. Since Sophie is American she is permitted to leave the country but instead of getting on the plane to leave she stays with Otto and runs into the forest so nobody can stop her from staying. She lives with the bonobos for weeks in the sanctuary enclosure, learning what to eat, who to trust, and where to sleep in the trees. She eventually escapes the enclosure to try to get to her mom at the release site. She travels through vast forest, escaping soldiers and managing to keep her and Otto alive in the forest. She refuses to leave Otto and turns down many offers to leave the country. Sophie and Otto live in the jungle and slowly make there way to her moms release site. Finally, they find Sophie's mom and are in good care. Sophie takes a plane back to the sanctuary with her mom and gets to her dad in America. Sophie has to leave Otto behind but she visits him in the future and she safely makes it back home.


One of the main themes in this book is we will do crazy things for the ones we love. An example of this is when Sophie abandons her chance to get out of the dangerous Congo. "'I'm staying,' I said. I told myself that soon the van would be gone,  and they'd have to let me remain at the sanctuary with Otto." (65) My second example is when Sophie gets a second opportunity to get out of the country without Otto but she refuses again. "As I re-entered the clearing, swiping at my eyes with the butts of my palms, one thing was very clear to me: I was not leaving Otto here." (161) My third example is when Sophie goes into a dangerous town in the forest to try and save Otto. "Getting to Otto was the one thing on my mind, and pointing towards him was all I could do." (196)

The main setting in Endangered is Kinshasa. Her dad and mom split up when she was five and her dad chose to live in America but her mom chose to stay in the Congo so she could continue working on her bonobo sanctuary. Sophie visits Kinshasa every few years but she hates it. "Then when I was eight I left to live with my dad in America; ever since then coming back to spend summers with my mom meant descending into the muggy and dangerous back of nowhere." (1) When Sophie gets lost in the Congo she is terrified and is unsure of what to do and how to be safe. "I was feeling something more than fear as I rode: it was fear with a purpose, fear devoted entirely to the task of feeling alert." (144)

I would recommend this book to other 7th graders. It had a compelling story line that I really enjoyed. I also liked the way it was written. It was like was there in the story. I also loved the ending. It was heartfelt, sweet, and just so good.


Picture citation: http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/515ma1zBFTL._SY344_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg