Presenter of
the National Book Awards
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the National Book Awards
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Filed in the following archives
When Sophie has to visit her mother at her sanctuary for bonobos in Congo, she’s not thrilled to be there. It’s her mother’s passion, and Sophie doesn’t want to have anything to do with it. At least not until Otto, an infant bonobo, comes into her life, and for the first time she feels the bond a human can have with an animal. But peace does not last long for Sophie and Otto. When an armed revolution breaks out, the sanctuary is attacked, and the two of them must escape unprepared into the jungle. Caught in the crosshairs of a lethal conflict, they must struggle to keep safe, to eat, and to survive.
While visiting her mother who runs a bonobo sanctuary in Congo, two major events change Sophie’s life forever: she rescues an orphan bonobo she names Otto, and a bloody revolution breaks out, separating her from family and community. Her journey with Otto through a war-ravaged countryside teaches Sophie what it means to sacrifice for another intelligent being, and how to survive by her wits. Endangered is about the bonds that connect us to our fellow creatures, about what we are in danger of losing, and about what we may yet save by practicing empathy and compassion.
