If the allure of 1930s circus life catches your fancy, Sara Gruen's "Water for Elephants" could be the escape you need. It's a vivid foray into an intense world of love, cruelty, and the fight for survival during America's hardest economic time. Reading about Jacob's unexpected journey, with its blend of gritty realities and the emotional resonance of finding one's true community, might just consume your imagination and heart, much like a high-flying trapeze act that leaves you aching for more.

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• Book Sense Book of the Year Award for Adult Fiction (2007)
• ALA Alex Award (2007)
• The Quill Award Nominee for General Fiction (2006)
• LovelyBooks Leserpreis Nominee for Allgemeine Literatur (2009)

When Jacob Jankowski, recently orphaned and suddenly adrift, jumps onto a passing train, he enters a world of freaks, drifters, and misfits, a second-rate circus struggling to survive during the Great Depression, making one-night stands in town after endless town. A veterinary student who almost earned his degree, Jacob is put in charge of caring for the circus menagerie. It is there that he meets Marlena, the beautiful young star of the equestrian act, who is married to August, the charismatic but twisted animal trainer. He also meets Rosie, an elephant who seems untrainable until he discovers a way to reach her. Beautifully written, Water for Elephants is illuminated by a wonderful sense of time and place. It tells a story of a love between two people that overcomes incredible odds in a world in which even love is a luxury that few can afford.

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