Banned Book Club: "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen
A novel frequently challenged for depictions of abuse, it follows a young man who joins a traveling circus during the Great Depression.
The Banned Book Club is led by Bryn, dedicated to reading and protecting the most important and threatened books for our generation.
This month, we’re reading Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen — a vivid, transportive novel set in a traveling circus during the Great Depression. Told through the memories of Jacob Jankowski, a young veterinary student who jumps a train and lands among a cast of performers, drifters, and animals, the novel explores love, survival, and the fragile line between care and cruelty in a world built on spectacle.
The book has been challenged and removed from school curricula for its depictions of sexual content, violence, and abuse. Its unflinching portrayal of power dynamics—between people, and between humans and animals—has made it a frequent target, even as those elements are central to the story’s emotional and moral stakes.
Atmospheric, propulsive, and deeply humane, Water for Elephants pulls back the curtain on a romanticized world to reveal something far more complicated—reminding us that the stories we try to protect are often the ones that refuse to look away.
We will meet in person in the loft at our store at The Mark, 117 S. Pineapple Ave. The book club is $18.99, which includes a copy of Water for Elephants to be picked up at Bookstore1 any time before our meeting.
Sara Gruen is the #1 New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of At the Water’s Edge, Water for Elephants, Ape House, Riding Lessons, and Flying Changes. Her works have been translated into forty-three languages and have sold more than ten million copies worldwide. Water for Elephants was adapted into a major motion picture starring Reese Witherspoon, Rob Pattinson, and Christoph Waltz in 2011.
She lives in Western North Carolina with her husband and three sons, along with their dogs, cats, horses, birds, and the world’s fussiest goat.
ABOUT BOOK BANS:
Books are under profound attack in the United States. PEN America's latest report, Banned in the USA: The Normalization of Book Banning, found that 6,870 books bans were enacted during the 2024-25 school year, across 23 states and 87 public school districts. And everywhere, it is the books that have long fought for a place on the shelf that are being targeted. Books by authors of color, by LGBTQ+ authors, by women. Books about racism, sexuality, gender, history. PEN America pushes back against censorship and the intolerance and exclusion that undergird it.
Check out some frequently asked questions about book banning: https://pen.org/book-bans/book-bans-frequently-asked-questions/
A novel frequently challenged for depictions of abuse, it follows a young man who joins a traveling circus during the Great Depression.
The Banned Book Club is led by Bryn, dedicated to reading and protecting the most important and threatened books for our generation.
This month, we’re reading Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen — a vivid, transportive novel set in a traveling circus during the Great Depression. Told through the memories of Jacob Jankowski, a young veterinary student who jumps a train and lands among a cast of performers, drifters, and animals, the novel explores love, survival, and the fragile line between care and cruelty in a world built on spectacle.
The book has been challenged and removed from school curricula for its depictions of sexual content, violence, and abuse. Its unflinching portrayal of power dynamics—between people, and between humans and animals—has made it a frequent target, even as those elements are central to the story’s emotional and moral stakes.
Atmospheric, propulsive, and deeply humane, Water for Elephants pulls back the curtain on a romanticized world to reveal something far more complicated—reminding us that the stories we try to protect are often the ones that refuse to look away.
We will meet in person in the loft at our store at The Mark, 117 S. Pineapple Ave. The book club is $18.99, which includes a copy of Water for Elephants to be picked up at Bookstore1 any time before our meeting.
Sara Gruen is the #1 New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of At the Water’s Edge, Water for Elephants, Ape House, Riding Lessons, and Flying Changes. Her works have been translated into forty-three languages and have sold more than ten million copies worldwide. Water for Elephants was adapted into a major motion picture starring Reese Witherspoon, Rob Pattinson, and Christoph Waltz in 2011.
She lives in Western North Carolina with her husband and three sons, along with their dogs, cats, horses, birds, and the world’s fussiest goat.
ABOUT BOOK BANS:
Books are under profound attack in the United States. PEN America's latest report, Banned in the USA: The Normalization of Book Banning, found that 6,870 books bans were enacted during the 2024-25 school year, across 23 states and 87 public school districts. And everywhere, it is the books that have long fought for a place on the shelf that are being targeted. Books by authors of color, by LGBTQ+ authors, by women. Books about racism, sexuality, gender, history. PEN America pushes back against censorship and the intolerance and exclusion that undergird it.
Check out some frequently asked questions about book banning: https://pen.org/book-bans/book-bans-frequently-asked-questions/
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Highlights
- 1 hour
- In person
Refund Policy
Location
Bookstore1Sarasota
117 S. Pineapple Ave.
Sarasota, FL 34236
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