- Registration is required for this event.
- Registration will close on April 27, 2026 @ 6:00pm.
- There are 11 seats remaining.
Program Description
This month we will be reading and discussing "West with Giraffes" by Lynda Rutledge.
"Few true friends have I known and two were giraffes..." Woodrow Wilson Nickel, age 105, feels his life ebbing away. But when he learns giraffes are going extinct, he finds himself recalling the unforgettable experience he cannot take to his grave. It's 1938. The Great Depression lingers. Hitler is threatening Europe, and world-weary Americans long for wonder. They find it in two giraffes who miraculously survive a hurricane while crossing the Atlantic. What follows is a twelve-day road trip in a custom truck to deliver Southern California's first giraffes to the San Diego Zoo. Inspired by true events, the tale weaves real-life figures with fictional ones, including the world's first female zoo director, a crusty old man with a past, a young female photographer with a secret, and assorted reprobates as spotty as the giraffes.
"West with Giraffes" is available through our catalog. Please visit our front desk or call 941-861-1744 to reserve a copy of the book.
We will be meeting in-person in the Shannon Staub Library Conference Room.