Clever, sensitive Jama likes elephants better than people. While her classmates gossipespecially about the new boy, Lekutwelve-year-old Jama takes refuge at the watering hole outside her village. There she befriends a baby elephant she names Mbegu, Swahili for seed.

When Mbegus mother, frightened by poachers, stampedes, Jama and Mbegu are blamed for two deathsone elephant and one human. Now Leku, whose mysterious and imposing father is head ranger at the conservancy, may be their only lifeline.

Inspired by true events,The Elephant Girlis a moving exploration of the bonds between creatures and the power of belonging.