Quicklets: Learn More. Read Less. Sara Gruen studied English literature at the University of Ottowa, before moving to the United States from Canada in 1999. She wrote two books before Water for Elephants: Riding Lessons and Flying Changes. Her latest book, Ape House, tells the story of a bonobo ape. Gruen's Water for Elephants has received a number of awards include the 2007 Book Sense Book of the Year Award, the BookBrowse Diamond Award for Most Popular book, and the Friends of American Literature Adult Fiction Award. She lives in North Carolina with her husband, sons and a few horses, dogs, cats and a goat. Water for Elephants is the story of a veterinarian who runs away and joins the circus during the Great Depression. Along the way, he falls in love with a performer and befriends an elephant named Rosie. Sara Gruen wrote Water for Elephants in 2006 as part of the National Novel Writing Month. Before starting work on the book, she had never before attended a circus. She did extensive research on circuses and many of the characters and events depicted in Water for Elephants were based upon true stories. Originally published by Algonquin Books on May 26, 2006, Water for Elephants is available in 44 languages and has over 3 million copies in print worldwide. Water for Elephants was on the New York Times Best Seller List for 12 weeks in 2006 and the paperback hit number one on the same list on July 8, 2007. In 2011, the film based upon Water for Elephants was released, starring Reese Witherspoon and Robert Pattinson.

Over 10,000,000 copies in print worldwide #1 New York Times Bestseller A Los Angeles Times Bestseller A Wall Street Journal Bestseller A Newsday Favorite Book of 2006 A USA Today Bestseller A Major Motion Picture starring Reese Witherspoon, Robert Pattinson, and Christoph Waltz Jacob Janowski’s luck had run out--orphaned and penniless, he had no direction until he landed on a rickety train that was home to the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth. A veterinary student just shy of a degree, he was put in charge of caring for the circus menagerie. It was the Great Depression and for Jacob the circus was both his salvation and a living hell. There he met Marlena, the beautiful equestrian star married to August, the charismatic but brutal animal trainer. And he met Rosie, an untrainable elephant who was the great hope for this third-rate traveling show. The bond that grew among this group of misfits was one of love and trust, and ultimately, it was their only hope for survival.

Set in a travelling circus touring the backblocks of America during the Great Depression of the early 1930s this is a story of love and hate, trains and circuses, dwarves and fat ladies, horses and elephants - or to be more specific, one elephant, Rosie, star of Benzini Bros Most Spectacular Show on Earth . . . Now a major motion picture.

Ninety-something-year-old Jacob Jankowski remembers his time in the circus as a young man during the Great Depression, and his friendship with Marlena, the star of the equestrian act, and Rosie, the elephant, who gave them hope. Reader's Guide included. Reprint.

A novel for secondary school English classes with great writing and important themes.