Elephant Secret

We Bought a Zoo meets Jurassic Park in a gripping story featuring the evergreen appeal of human-animal friendships and set in an elephant sanctuary, about a thirteen-year-old girl, a cast of elephants, and a surprising new arrival—a woolly mammoth. Sam was born and raised in an elephant sanctuary. When a beloved elephant dies giving birth, Sam develops a connection with baby Woolly—who isn’t actually an elephant but was cloned from woolly mammoth DNA. And the billionaire genius behind the cloning experiment will stop at nothing to protect his investment. Smart, determined, and loving, Sam stands up to this powerful adversary to protect the sanctuary and her herd. In the best tradition of child-animal friendship stories, Elephant Secret explores the strong and complex bond between Sam and her elephants while offering a fascinating, authentic glimpse into elephant—and human—behavior. 

Sam feels more comfortable around elephants than around humans, yet she still faces conflicts that middle-grade readers will relate to, like the awkwardness of going to a school dance and not always knowing what to say. When Woolly is born, however, her world narrows to the baby mammoth, her father, and her father’s girlfriend, Joyce. At first, Sam resists spending time with Joyce, but as the story progresses, she comes to realize that Joyce genuinely cares about her and about the elephants. As an attorney, Joyce also puts her legal skills to work in support of the sanctuary. 

Sam’s sense of family is woven throughout the descriptions of the elephants, who are portrayed as majestic creatures with distinctly human qualities—intelligence, compassion, and loyalty. When Woolly is born and his mother dies, Sam steps into the role of feeding and caring for the baby mammoth, and readers will fall in love with him just as she does, picking up plenty of fascinating facts about elephants, mammoths, and cloning along the way. Sam’s bond with Woolly is especially endearing; when she risks her life to save him, she reflects, “Risking my life was one thing. Risking hers was unthinkable.” With Joyce’s help, Sam comes to understand that she herself is just as valuable as the woolly mammoth—even if he is the only one of his kind in existence. 

The death of her mother has left Sam believing that “there isn’t much you can do to change anything that happens in your life. Things just happen, and you get on with it. I guess I learned that the hard way from the very beginning of my life [when her mother died].” Despite this outlook, Sam finds the courage to stand up to the billionaire who tries to take the sanctuary from her family, proving that she and her father are willing to fight for what they believe in, no matter how difficult the odds. 

The author’s note offers background on the discovery of mammoth remains in Russia and why such finds matter for the science of cloning. The book frames cloning as a hopeful advancement and is dedicated to “those making science fiction into science fact so that one day we all may have the opportunity to see woolly mammoths grace our planet once more.” 

In the end, Elephant Secret succeeds as both a heartfelt coming-of-age story and a thought-provoking look at the ethics of science and conservation. Through Sam’s evolving relationships—with Woolly, with Joyce, and with her own grief—Walters reminds readers that healing and connection often come from unexpected places. It’s a book that will appeal to animal lovers and science enthusiasts alike, leaving readers not only informed about elephants and cloning but genuinely moved by Sam’s journey toward trust, resilience, and love. 

Sexual Content  

• Sam’s father and his girlfriend kiss. “Then she took his hand and he bent down and they kissed. I knew they kissed and stuff, but they were usually careful not to do anything in front of me.” 

Violence  

• An abused elephant that was “kept in a small pen” killed his trainer. “Crushed him . . . It was no accident. It was very deliberate and very thorough.”  

• The elephant, Daisy Mae, goes into labor and a vet has to perform a Cesarean section. “Daisy Mae’s whole side had been cut open, and there was blood everywhere. The two vets were practically inside the incision, their arms and upper bodies not even visible.” Daisy Mae dies, but her baby survives.

Drugs and Alcohol  

• Tranquilizers, antibiotics, and adrenaline are used on the abused elephant.   

Language  

• Kids at school call Sam “Elephant Girl,” which annoys her. 

• Sam thinks some teenagers are jerks. 

• Sam goes to a school dance. While dancing with a boy, she calls him an idiot; then feels bad about it.  

• An adult uses “Oh, my God!” as an exclamation once. 

Supernatural 

• None 

Spiritual Content  

• When Daisy Mae goes into labor, there are complications. Sam’s dad says, “We wait and hope and maybe even pray a little.”  

• Sam and her father are forced to leave the animal sanctuary. After they leave, Woolly refuses to eat. Someone asks them to return to feed the mammoth before it dies. Sam’s dad says, “Maybe it’s the right thing [letting Woolly die]. We shouldn’t be creating life. Maybe nobody should be playing God, not even you.”