West with Giraffes by Lynda Rutledge

Described as “witty, charming, and heartwarming” by Booklist, West with Giraffes by Lynda Rutledge is a work of historical fiction based on true events. The setting is 1938 and the title characters are quarantined in New York, having survived a hurricane at sea. Their destination is the San Diego Zoo and Rutledge imagines that journey (avoiding overpasses less than 12’ 8”) along the Southern route (called the Lee Highway) in the company of Old Man, Woodrow Wilson Nickel (“Woody”), and Augusta Red (she’s a young, adventurous photographer, hoping for a break with Life magazine). West with Giraffes is a coming-of-age story, a romance, and a travelogue. As they drive across the US (sometimes at a top speed of ten miles an hour due to the winding, hilly roads), Rutledge chronicles numerous encounters and those provide ample opportunity for reflection and commentary on honesty, good vs. evil, families, feminism, race relations, and poverty vs. privilege. This novel is highly recommended, although there are some very sad parts as all of the main human characters are hiding secrets. Interested readers should explore this absolutely wonderful Libguide with more background on the giraffes, the book, and the author. Enjoy!

A favorite passage:
In the years ahead, through the War and beyond, it was this quiet day moving through the unmoving land with Boy and Girl and the Old Man and Red that I returned to when I needed it most. Like the jolting joy of giraffes amid the traveling bird wave, its peace passed any understanding, any attempt at words. You only get a few of those in your whole life if you're lucky, and some only get one. If that be true, this was my one. When I remember it, I'm not eighteen in the memory. I am whatever age its comfort came to me, be it 33 or 103, and I am driving us all, through the timeless red desert, headed nowhere in particular, just someplace good. Together.