Endangered by Eliot Schrefer

This young adult novel follows a teenage girl throughout the terrors of a war in the Congo all while trying to raise a young ape who is completely attached to her.  Her understanding of the world, herself, and others is impeccable for a young teen, but her story is also impeccably told.  

I enjoyed the story line, character development, thematic threads, and lasting memory this book gave me.  I would recommend it to fifth, sixth, and seventh graders.  I believe both boys and girls would enjoy this read: it has no limiting factors that make it sway more toward girls or boys.  This may be one reason I liked it--although the main character was a girl, she was not completely girly.  

The novel does touch upon heavy themes that may not be appropriate for an immature fifth grader.  However, I do think the story would carry on and still be enjoyable without a complete understanding of or respect for those circumstances.  While I think older readers would still find the story enjoyable, they may feel it is a bit young for them because the age of the main character is 14--most children enjoy reading about people older than them.  The difficulty level is appropriate for the average 10-year-old to approximately a 13-year-old.  But parents will enjoy this book, too!