Book Review: Running Wild

This is the first novel I have read of Michael Morpurgo, a prolific author.  Highly recommended.  I do have a copy of Farm Boy but never read it as it demanded attention at a time when I had none.  I also watched the dvd of War Horse.
My daughter lent me "Running Wild". Last night having ended the novel and read the several postscripts, I found myself watching You Tube footage of two tsunamis 2004 and 2011 about people who survived but had lost members of their families.  Unimaginable is an understatement!
I have ridden an elephant in Sri Lanka but never would I ever wish to have witnessed the real experiences of a 13 year old boy who was saved by riding a beach elephant, or an elephant who had come down to the beach.  At speed with energy and force it could escape the mysterious and destructive surge of the sea. This was the basis of the story. The Times says it is a thrilling and moving novel. That is exact. It thrills and it moves.  My tears flowed at page 321.
Witnessing not-my-own-bereavement this week, and knowing that my friend is in South East Asia, I became fearful, as well as tearful.  Yet, feel that I could be out in the great world travelling and facing my own fears. A fear of funding, deciding where to go, booking it are all shelved as other tasks to be done in order that I can do it seem to continue to extend the time when I have not gone!  I wonder if I will ever go, not so much to S.E.A. but even further within Europe.  Perhaps people go to Asia because it is by and large cheaper to travel on a budget. Apart from India I don't seem to have any urge to go to S. E. Asia.
The novel is a journey incorporating the survival of people, elephants, orang-utangs and tigers in the wild. It is a journey of how the loss of love, warmth, security and bereavement brings a journey of other growth for not only the boy but also for others.  It is a journey of hope.  It raises awareness of the forces of evil, greed, cruelty and some peoples' disinterest in global conditions. The novel is educational to young people of geographical matters.  Excellent!