Jack

Jack Martel is the eleven-year-old principal protagonist of the novel “Small as an Elephant” by Jennifer Richard Jacobson. Jack is a bright, personable, untrusting, and sensitive kid who loves his mother dearly. They live in Boston. Jack is noted by his obsession with elephants, having first encountered elephants with his grandmother and mother, Becky, as a very young child. Elephants are symbolic of safety and happiness to Jack as a result. He hopes to be able to see Lydia the Elephant at the zoo in York, Maine, while on vacation but his mother opposes creatures being kept in captivity and will not allow Jack to see Lydia. This causes an argument between them in which Jack speaks about his mother refusing to take her medication.

The next morning, Jack wakes up alone at the campground he and his mother have taken a spot at. Jack is stunned. At...