The White Giraffe

When she is eleven years old, Martine is orphaned and sent to live with her grandmother on a game reserve in South Africa. Her grandmother seems strangely unwelcoming and Martine has a difficult time settling in at her new school, where she is conspicuously an outsider. But she has an ally in Tendai - one of the keepers on the reserve, from whom she learns the lore and survival techniques of the bush, and in Grace - who instantly senses there is something special about Martine.

There are secrets about Sawubona (the reserve) just waiting to be revealed, and rumours too about a fabled white giraffe - a trophy for hunters everywhere. One night Martine, lonely and feeling slightly rebellious too, looks out of her window and see a young albino giraffe - silver, tinged with cinnamon in the moonlight. This is the beginning of her mysterious and magical adventures - her discovery of her gift of healing and a secret valley that she travels to with the giraffe, where she'll find clues about her past and future. Above all it's is a heart-warming story, full of charm and atmosphere, and Martine's sheer delight in her giraffe friend and the fantastic landscape which is theirs to explore.

“'St John's descriptions of southern Africa provide a sumptuous backdrop.... top-drawer adventure storytelling, with an added helping of fantasy thrown in. It all makes for a genuinely gripping tale that will warm even the coldest of hearts.'”

St John's descriptions of southern Africa provide a sumptuous backdrop.... top-drawer adventure storytelling, with an added helping of fantasy thrown in. It all makes for a genuinely gripping tale that will warm even the coldest of hearts. - WATERSTONE'S BOOKS QUARTERLY - Joe Melia, Waterstone's Bristol Galleries

enthralling... we may not all have a white giraffe to make life easier, but his book remainds us that even the most miserable situation can get better. - SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST - John Millen

Lauren St John was born in Gatooma, Rhodesia, now Kadoma, Zimbabwe. Aged 11 she and her family moved to Rainbow's End farm in Gadzema, which later became the subject of her memoir. After studying journalism, she relocated to England, where she was golf correspondent to the SUNDAY TIMES. She is the author of several books on sports and music, as well as the award-winning children's quartet The White Giraffe and the BLUE PETER AWARD-winning Laura Marlin series. She has also recently written an adult novel, The Obituary Writer, published in 2013.

Visit Lauren's website at

Martine is eleven when she goes to live on a game reserve in Africa, a place where mysteries and secrets abound, where the intoxicating magic of the country casts all sorts of spells.One lonely night, she looks out of her window and sees a young giraffe, silver tinged with cinnamon in the moonlight. 'For a split second their eyes locked, the small sad girl and the slender young giraffe, then the sky went dark. Martine pressed her face to the window, desperate to see the white giraffe again.' In that instant Martine knows that she is prepared to risk everything for it. The giraffe looks at her as if it is waiting ... 'a spellbinding and mesmerizing debut novel'Publishing News

When she is eleven years old, Martine is orphaned and sent to live with her grandmother on a game reserve in South Africa. Her grandmother seems strangely unwelcoming and Martine has a difficult time settling in at her new school, where she is conspicuously an outsider. But she has an ally in Tendai - one of the keepers on the reserve, from whom she learns the lore and survival techniques of the bush, and in Grace - who instantly senses there is something special about Martine.There are secrets about Sawubona (the reserve) just waiting to be revealed, and rumours too about a fabled white giraffe - a trophy for hunters everywhere. One night Martine, lonely and feeling slightly rebellious too, looks out of her window and see a young albino giraffe - silver, tinged with cinnamon in the moonlight. This is the beginning of her mysterious and magical adventures - her discovery of her gift of healing and a secret valley that she travels to with the giraffe, where she'll find clues about her past and future. Above all it's is a heart-warming story, full of charm and atmosphere, and Martine's sheer delight in her giraffe friend and the fantastic landscape which is theirs to explore.

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