Kirkus
Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Eleven-year-old Jack is older than his years; he has to be. His mother, suffering from an unnamed mental disorder, has left him behind again. This time he is in a campground on Mount Desert Island in Maine, far from his Boston home. When he wakes up, there is no sign of his motherno rental car, camping gear or food.Jack only has his cell phone (which his mother is not answering), $14, a tent and his love of elephantsa near-obsession that gives structure to his otherwise chaotic life. Because Jack is used to his mother's manic behavior, he quickly goes into survival mode, figuring out ways to get food and coming up with plans to get home to Boston while evading curious adults. Jack's mother has told him what will happen if he gets turned into the authorities: He will be put into foster care or, worse, sent to live with his maternal grandmother. While there are moments when Jack's journey relies on coincidence, and his ability to elude intervention stretches credibility slightly, Jacobson masterfully puts readers into Jack's mindhe loves and understands his mother, but sometimes his judgments are not always good, and readers understand. His love and knowledge of elephants both sustains him and pleasingly shapes the story arc. Jack's journey to a new kind of family is inspiring and never sappy.(Fiction. 10-14)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Horn Book
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Eleven-year-old Jack's life is turned upside down when his not-quite-right mother disappears during their Maine camping trip. He sets off on a series of desperate misadventures, not realizing that the whole state of Maine is searching for him. Jacobson has great success putting readers inside Jack's not-always-thinking-things-through mind. The happy yet realistic ending leaves him "light-headed with hope. (c) Copyright 2011. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.