Margins
Animal Healer book cover 1
Animal Healer book cover 2
Animal Healer book cover 3
Animal Healer
Series · 5 books · 2006-2015

Books in series

The White Giraffe book cover
#1

The White Giraffe

2006

When Martine’s home in England burns down, killing her parents, she must go to South Africa to live on a wildlife game preserve, called Sawubona, with the grandmother she didn’t know she had. Almost as soon as she arrives, Martine hears stories about a white giraffe living in the preserve. But her grandmother and others working at Sawubona insist that the giraffe is just a myth. Martine is not so sure, until one stormy night when she looks out her window and locks eyes with Jemmy, a young silvery-white giraffe. Why is everyone keeping Jemmy’s existence a secret? Does it have anything to do with the rash of poaching going on at Sawubona? Martine needs all of the courage and smarts she has, not to mention a little African magic, to find out. First-time children’s author Lauren St. John brings us deep into the African world, where myths become reality and a young girl with a healing gift has the power to save her home and her one true friend.
Dolphin Song book cover
#2

Dolphin Song

2007

Just as Martine is settling into life on the wildlife game reserve, she is whisked away on a school trip. She must leave her white giraffe, Jemmy, for 2 weeks! Her class is going on an ocean voyage to witness the Sardine Run, a spectacular natural phenomenon, off the coast of South Africa. What begins as an exciting adventure quickly turns perilous when a storm blows up and Martine and her classmates are thrown overboard into shark-infested waters. They are save by a pod of dolphins, only to end up marooned on a deserted island. The castaways, at odds with one another, must figure out not only how to survive, but how to help the dolphins when a terrible danger threatens them. In a gripping tale of courage, friendship and survival, Martine must use her healing gift and her wilderness training to save both humans and animals alike.
The Last Leopard book cover
#3

The Last Leopard

2008

Martine is looking forward to the holidays and riding Jemmy, her white giraffe, until an accident sends her and Ben on a journey to the Matobo Hills wilderness in Zimbabwe. It is a lawless land, where nothing is as it seems. When they uncover a plot in which the fate of a magnificent leopard and the lost treasure of an African King are mysteriously linked, their friendship faces its greatest test. Far from home and the help of Grace and Tendai, and with Gwyn Thomas languishing, under false accusations, in jail, Martine and Ben must use every survival skill they possess. They'll come face to face with Griffin, Mercy, Mr Ratcliffe (known as Rat), Magnus the hornbill, and a witch doctor, not to mention Khan, the last leopard. They must decide who their friends are, and who are enemies, as they race against time to save the world's rarest leopard and each other. This third African adventure is written with all the zest and skill that have endeared so many readers to THE WHITE GIRAFFE and DOLPHIN SONG.
The Elephant's Tale book cover
#4

The Elephant's Tale

2009

When Martine and her grandmother discover that they might lose their game reserve, Sawubona, because of a clause in her grandfather's will, Martine and her best friend, Ben, decide to take matters into their own hands. After Martine hears a prophecy that tells her: "The elephants will lead you to the truth," Martine and Ben stow away in an airplane, get stuck in the desert, and help a group of elephants escape from a horrible prison. Along the way, Martine learns the truth about Sawubona, as well as the dramatic truth about her gift with animals and where it will take her in her life . . .
Operation Rhino book cover
#5

Operation Rhino

2015

The final African adventure in Lauren St John's award-winning WHITE GIRAFFE series. When the rhinos at Sawubona Game Reserve are attacked, the poachers leave behind a terrified calf. Devastated but determined to help, Martine and Ben agree to take the rhino baby to a sanctuary near the mysterious Golden Gate Highlands National Park, a place where dinosaurs once walked. But the sanctuary is hiding a precious secret - one that must be guarded from the poachers at all costs. When the secret gets out, Martine and Ben find themselves in the fight of their lives to save one of the rarest animals on earth. But who can they trust?

Author

Lauren St. John
Lauren St. John
Author · 24 books
Lauren St John grew up on a farm and game reserve in Africa, the inspiration for her acclaimed memoir, Rainbow's End, and her award-winning White Giraffe series for children. Dead Man's Cove, the first in her Laura Marlin mystery series, won the Blue Peter Book of the Year Award in 2011. Her bestselling One Dollar Horse trilogy for teenagers was followed by The Glory, a breathtaking YA adventure and romance about a long distance horse race across the American West. Formerly a sports and music journalist, Lauren is the author of Seve and Hardcore Troubador: the Life & Near Death of Steve Earle, a superb, gripping biography of an Americana legend. The Obituary Writer, her first adult novel, was published in 2014 and she is currently at work on her second. Both The White Giraffe and The Glory have been optioned for film.
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