'The Girl Who Stole An Elephant' is the beautiful story of Chaya, a modern day Robin-Hood, who is on a mission to steal from the rich in order to give to those in need. Unfortunately, when she steals the Queen's jewels, her theft does not go unnoticed, and to make matters worse, her best friend Neel is arrested for it.

No matter how much she protests, nobody believes Chaya that she is the one to blame. So the bold heroine decides to take the law into her own hands and to rescue Neel from the royal prisons. She does this with the help of a stolen elephant, Ananda - taking Neel and fellow accomplice Noor on a wonderful and unexpected jungle adventure.

Their jungle adventure is described in rich detail, and as a reader we're also aware of the lurking danger - both in the form of the children's pursuers and the natural world around them, particularly the merciless leeches. There's also revolution stirring and the trio find themselves in the company of bandits.

But can they come up with a plausible reason for the king to forgive them? And will they ever be able to see their families again?

I loved Nirzana Farook's story, for its fast-paced action, wonderful descriptions of setting, and particularly for the unique dialogue which made all three of her central characters so distinct. By the end of the story I felt like I knew them all so well.

There's a beautiful extract in which Chaya tries to convince everyone that Neel is not to blame for the theft:

It wasn't him. It was me. Me. Chaya's screams burned her throat, but nobody took any notice. She saw two men at the front haul Neel into a cart. Bodies hit against her, buffeting her from side to side, and her ears rang with the whinnying of horses and crunch of cartwheels.

Something scraped against her arm, leaving a slash of blood. She thrust her way to the front, where the purple waistcoat of General Siri flashed golden at the seams, sitting high on his horse. Chaya threw herself in front of him, blocking the way. The horse reared up and General Siri gaped down at her.

"What the - Get out of the way before you get killed! Idiot."

"It was me!" yelled Chaya. "I stole the jewels. It wasn't Neel."

'The Girl Who Stole An Elephant' is a gripping read, which I would thoroughly recommend to both middle grade and older readers.