Saving Lilly
by Peg Kehret
Book talk for Prospective Readers
Could you raise $8,000 in three weeks if you had to? What if the life
of an elephant depended on your doing just that? Erin Wrenn and her sixth
grade class get challenged to do a lot of different things in this book.
Their class teacher challenges them to read 300 books all together as
a
class within a limited amount of time. Erin's and David's TAG (Talented
and Gifted) teacher asks them to write a report on the care, training
and legal issues surrounding wild animals in circuses. Then, Erin asks
her
class to help her raise the $8,000 needed to free an abused elephant,
named Lilly. By then, she and David know more than they ever wanted to
know about
how circus animals are trained and treated. They are also in deep trouble
with their class teacher for taking a stand against the circus, and it
looks as though Lilly's life really does depend on their ability to buy
her freedom.
If you want to find out how Erin knows that the elephant is in need of
rescue, how she gets into so much trouble with her teacher without ever
really doing anything wrong, and whether or not the elephant gets rescued,
you'll have to read Saving Lilly.
Discussion Questions:
- Do you think it is realistic for a group to raise $7,500 in three weeks?
How would you go about raising a large sum in a short time?
- Do you think that it is right to do as an adult tells you, even if you
believe it is wrong?
- Do Erin and David actually disobey their teacher? What would your parents
do or say
if you passed out a petition in school against the teacher's wishes?
- A math problem for you: if they all read the same number of books a day,
how many days should it take Erin and David's class to read the three
hundred books?
- Do you think that Mrs. Dawson's behavior was justified? How would you
feel if your
teacher acted the way she did about the permission slips?
- Do you think that the principal was right to support Mrs. Dawson? Why
or why not?
- Do you think that it is all right for people to have animals perform
for their entertainment? If yes, under what circumstances is it ok? Does it
make a difference to you what kind of animal it is?
- Read again the passage starting on page 139 through page 143 (paperback
version).
How does it make you feel? Do you think you could talk to an adult the
way Erin did?
Plot
This is the story of some brave sixth grade children who decide to take
a stand against cruelty to animals, specifically, a circus elephant,
named Lilly.
It all begins when Mrs. Mapes, the teacher of a Talented and Gifted (TAG)
program, assigns a report on circus animals to her class. When Erin Wrenn
and her friend David, who attend the TAG program, discover that circus
animals are routinely abused, they vow that they will never go to a circus
or any event exploiting wild animals again.
The complicating factor, and the one that makes the book interesting, is what is happening in Erin and David's regular class at the same time. The class teacher, Mrs. Dawson, has challenged Erin and David's class to read, collectively, three hundred books. The prize is kept a secret from all the children until they have read the 300 books, and guess what, it's a trip to the circus for the whole class. When Erin and David refuse to go to the circus, their teacher feels very threatened and uses some underhand methods to try to force them to go. She does not want her happy memories of going to the circus with her grandfather ruined, and she sees their behavior as unreasonable and disobedient. When Erin and David discover that the circus in question is frequently cited for animal abuse, their resolve hardens, and they stage a sit-in for the day of the class trip. They further find out that the elephant, Lilly, at the Glitter Circus is injured and doomed to be sold to a hunting park; this inspires them to rescue Lilly and send her instead to a sanctuary for wild animals, where she can live with dignity.
With the help of some compassionate adults, Erin's big sister, and their
whole class, these children raise enough money to free Lilly. After the
TAG teacher and the principal donate $500, that leaves $7,500 to be found
within three weeks! Sounds impossible, but Erin is very convincing. As
you read, you too will become a believer in the power of her heady combination
of optimism, youth and hard work. At the last moment it looks as though
all that hard work will come to nothing. There's a heart-stopping scene
in which it looks as though the evil circus owner will triumph and Lilly's
life will be forfeit, but Peg Kehret wouldn't leave us like that, and
help comes, in true Greek fashion,like a "deus ex machina",
from a surprising source.
Related Activities:
- Write fifty words, like Erin's sister, Kathleen, about what you would
do as president of the United States. Set up a committee and select the winning
entry.
- Go on the internet and research wild animal sanctuaries. Are there any
in your area? What can you find out from going to the web sites in the
Author's note at the end of the book? How much does it cost to have an
animal adopted by a sanctuary in the sites you find?
- What kinds of things can you do to earn money? Can you think of one way
you've never tried and do it? A car wash? Weeding for a neighbor? What
other ways do the children in Erin's class make money?
- Decide on a sum of money and raise that sum with your class; donate it
to a wild animal sanctuary or animal rights group.
- Research the way elephants live in the wild. How many kinds of elephants
are there in the world? Are they endangered?
- What you think a good elephant sanctuary would be like? Draw or paint
a picture of your ideal sanctuary.
Submitted by: Tess Beck, Stratford Library Association
Last updated on: 18 September, 2008
Webmoiselle: Caitlin > webmoiselle [@] nutmegaward [dot] org
Sponsors and Supporters of the NBA:
CASL, CLA, Baker and Taylor, BWI (Book Wholesalers Inc.), Bound to Stay Bound Books Inc., Follett
©Nutmeg Book Award, 1999 - 2009. All Rights Reserved.