The Girl Who Lost a Leopard by Nizrana Farook

In The Girl Who Lost a Leopard, free-spirited Selvi desires nothing more than to protect the leopard, Lokka, until she realizes that she can’t do it alone.

The Girl Who Lost a Leopard by Nizrana Farook. Peachtree, 2022, 196 pages.

Reading Level: Middle Grades, ages 10-12

Recommended for: ages 10-12

Selvi is horrified when she discovers that poachers are pursuing Lokka, the wild leopard who has befriended her. Hunting leopards is illegal on the island of Serendib (Sri Lanka), but a certain buyer is willing to pay generously for one with rare markings like Lokka’s. Anxious to protect the leopard while trying to avoid being caught herself by the poachers, Selvi has no choice but to entrust her secret with Amir, a friend from school who may or may not be entirely trustworthy. Amir means well and is impressed by her relationship with Lokka, but when they go to visit the leopard, Amir accidentally puts all of them in danger and Lokka disappears.

Selvi doesn’t feel like she fits in at school and her schoolmates find it hard to appreciate jungle wildlife. When her teacher opens a class discussion about whether or not leopards are pests, she passionately defends them and rallies her classmates to her side. As a result, when Lokka is caught by the poachers and Selvi herself is locked away, the other children come to her aid. Selvi loses, finds, and loses a leopard, but ultimately she finds something she needed more in friendship and community. Farook writes naturally about her home country of Serendib (Sri Lanka) as the setting for this dramatic adventure. A strong sense of culture and place flow naturally through mentions of specific animals and life at home and school, woven through an action-packed story of finding friendship and appreciation for exotic creatures.

Bottom Line: A lively adventure that is perfect for animal lovers.

Also at Redeemed Reader:

• Reviews: Tiger Boy by Mitali Perkins is one of our favorite middle grade recommendations!
• Review: Saving H’Non is graphic nonfiction title that also grapples with conservation from a similar part of the world.
• Review: A Forest, A Flood and an Unlikely Star features another young person who tries to protect an endangered animal, this time in Africa.

We are participants in the Amazon LLC affiliate program; purchases you make through affiliate links like the one below may earn us a commission. Read more here.

Consider ordering The Girl Who Lost a Leopard from Storyglory Kids!

Or order The Girl Who Lost a Leopard from Amazon.