Acclaimed author Isabel Allende's first YA novel, part thrilling, survival adventure, part coming-of-age journey, blends magical realism with grim history and contemporary politics in a way that shakes up all the usual definitions of savagery and civilization.

Alexander Cold knows all too well his grandmother Kate is never far from an adventure. When International Geographic commissions her to write an article about the first elephant-led safaris in Africa, they head - with Nadia Santos and the magazine's photography crew - to the blazing, red plains of Kenya.