West With Giraffes

There's a kernel of truth in the plot of West With Giraffes (#1,219) by Lynda Rutledge.  A pair of giraffes being shipped to the fledgling San Diego Zoo barely survive the Hurricane of 1938 on board their ship.  Once they arrive in New York City, there remains the problem of how to transport them across the country to the Zoo.  It's never been done before, but their journey keeps America captivated as war breaks out in Europe.

That part of the book is all true, but the characters and events that accompany Boy and Girl on their cross-country journey are fictitious.  Woody Nickel is a refugee from the Dustbowl disaster when he washes up in New York City.  He's never seen such a place, or such creatures as the giraffes.  He barely survived the storm himself and has no idea what to do with himself, but he wants to stay with those giraffes.  How he manages to make himself part of the crew moving them with one mishap after another makes for an engaging tale, and all seems to be going well for him until the Zoo man and the female reporter following them find themselves in Texas where Woody comes from.  Told from Woody's old age, the mysteries are gradually revealed. It seems he has a past, after all...