Gillian Engberg (Booklist, May 15, 2005 (Vol. 101, No. 18))
In 1919, in British East Africa, 13-year-old Rachel loses her missionary parents during an influenza epidemic. When she turns to her English neighbors for help, the Pritchards ensnare her in a shocking, ill-intentioned scheme. Disowned by their rich family, they had planned to send their daughter, Valerie, to her grandfather's estate in England, where they hoped she would help to reinstate them in his will. But after Valerie dies of flu, the Pritchards conspire to send Rachel, whose red hair matches their daughter's. Whelan creates deliciously odious villains in the Pritchard parents, who, with shameless cunning, manipulate Rachel into agreeing to the deceit. Once in England, Rachel and the perilously ill grandfather develop a surprisingly strong, affectionate bond, although she continues the ruse, believing that "one more disappointment would be the end of the old man." In a straightforward, sympathetic voice, Rachel tells an involving, episodic story that follows her across continents and through life stages as she grapples with her dishonesty, grief for her lost parents and life in Africa, and looming questions about how to prepare for grown-up life at a time when few choices were allowed to women. Gentle, nostalgic, and fueled with old-fashioned girl power, this involving orphan story will please fans of Frances Hodgson Burnett's classic The Secret Garden (1912) and Eva Ibbotson's The Star of Kazan (2004). Category: Books for Older Readers--Fiction. 2005, HarperCollins, $15.99, $16.89. Gr. 6-9. Starred Review

Barbara L. Talcroft (Children's Literature)
Award-winning author Whelan (Homeless Bird, National Book Award, 2000) sets this novel in Kenya where in 1919 Rachel Sheridan loses her mother and doctor father to the flu epidemic. The orphaned thirteen-year-old becomes the victim of remittance man Mr. Pritchard and his wife, who force her to impersonate their dead daughter Valerie and travel to England, where they hope she will persuade Pritchard’s elderly father to let them come home and inherit. Helpless and missing her beloved Africa, Rachel nonetheless becomes fond of the Grandfather and his rural estate. Whelan’s love of wildlife surfaces in her evocative use of animals (the nighttime roaring of lions) and especially birds, both English and African, like herons, eagles, thrushes, and hoopoes (pictured in Brett Helquist’s charming cover illustration). The Pritchards make satisfying villains; readers will root for Rachel as she makes her difficult decision to tell the truth and triumphs over the evil schemers. Her adventures call to mind classic orphan stories like Heidi and A Little Princess, though Rachel outdoes these heroines by becoming a doctor when she grows up. (Middle readers will learn of the difficulties facing female medical students in the 1920s.) Told in the first person by a sensitive and determined young woman, Rachel’s story eventually takes her back to Africa, where she will establish a new hospital. Though avoiding any exploration of colonialism in this well-written and engaging novel, Whelan, at the end, introduces hints of change in Kenya with rumors of Jomo Kenyatta and uhuru. 2005, HarperCollins, $15.99 and $16.89. Ages 10 to 16.

Kirkus (Kirkus Reviews, June 15, 2005 (Vol. 73, No. 12))
Raised in British East Africa, Rachel knows well that when parents die, their young are vulnerable to attack. Little does she suspect that the loss of her own British missionary parents to influenza will leave her to the wicked clutches of the neighboring Pritchards. In this satisfying story set in the early 20th century, the money-grubbing Pritchards swap the unassuming 13-year-old Rachel for their spoiled daughter Valerie when Valerie dies, manipulating her into traveling to England to pose as the rich, elderly Mr. Pritchard's granddaughter. The up-until-now somber novel blooms as the orphaned Rachel shares her newfound grandfather's passion for bird watching and bonds with him despite her reluctant impersonation. Though it bogs down with the rehashing of Rachel's internal dilemmas and in African animal metaphors, the story remains irresistible in a The Prince and the Pauper or The Secret Garden sort of way. Readers will cheer as the truth sets Rachel free, and as she, against all odds, becomes a doctor and returns to Africa to rebuild the hospital where her father healed patients before her. (glossary, author's note, bibliography) 2005, HarperCollins, 208p, $15.99. Category: Fiction. Ages 12 to 15. © 2005 Kirkus Reviews/VNU eMedia, Inc. All rights reserved.

Claire Rosser (KLIATT Review, July 2005 (Vol. 39, No. 4))
An old-fashioned story of courage that will appeal to many, by a National Book Award-winning author who is good at telling such stories. It follows the heroine Rachel Sheridan from the time she is 13 years old, living with her missionary parents in British East Africa where she was born. The worldwide flu epidemic of 1918 comes to their little village hospital and Rachel's parents both die caring for the sick. Some aristocratic British neighbors, whose daughter also died in the epidemic, persuade Rachel to impersonate their daughter and return to England to ingratiate herself and themselves with a wealthy dying grandfather. Rachel hates to lie, but she also comes to love the old man and is afraid to disappoint him by revealing her true identity. The truth does eventually come out, and Rachel, the smart, compassionate girl that she is, gives the old man reason to live. He sends her to a school that will prepare her to accomplish her life's dream--to become a doctor like her father and return to rebuild the hospital in Africa. Whelan takes Rachel's story through to its triumphant conclusion. The description of life in the village in Africa, juxtaposed with Rachel's transplantation to an estate in England and her subsequent experiences at boarding school and medical school, is done vividly. Of course, any reader will admire Rachel. Category: Hardcover Fiction. KLIATT Codes: JS--Recommended for junior and senior high school students. 2005, HarperCollins, 208p., $15.99. Ages 12 to 18.

Timnah Card (The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, September 2005 (Vol. 59, No. 1))
When her medical missionary parents die in 1919 from influenza in British East Africa, fifteen-year-old Rachel Sheridan is taken in by avaricious neighbors who blackmail her into pretending to be their own daughter, Valerie (who was also killed by the disease), in order to help them inherit a fortune from the dead girl’s grandfather. Sent to England dressed in Valerie’s clothes, Rachel aches to tell someone, anyone, who she really is and to end the lie, but her fear of going to prison or the orphanage and of giving Valerie’s grandfather the final shock of his life keep her silent. Later, the deception is found out and the predatory couple (who followed Rachel to England) is sent packing. Rachel, however, has won the old man’s heart, so she stays; he formally adopts her, sends her to school, and leaves her a sizable legacy when he dies, enough to pay for her medical training and the establishment of a new hospital for her practice close by her parents’ graves in Africa. Whelan’s world-building skills spring to the fore in this atmospheric novel; the Africa that Rachel loves is wild and dangerous as well as fearsomely beautiful, and while the softer landscape of England is lovely in its way, the reader will agree with Rachel that there is no place quite like her homeland. Rachel’s provincial innocence, combined with the providential resolution of the story and the luminous descriptions of the African bush, give this historical novel a fairy-tale flair; appreciative readers may find further enchantment in Elspeth Huxley’s autobiographical classic about colonial Africa, The Flame Trees of Thika. A glossary, author’s note, and bibliography are included. Review Code: R -- Recommended. (c) Copyright 2005, The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. 2005, HarperCollins, 194p, $16.89 and $15.99. Grades 6-8.

Lucy H. McLeod (The Kutztown University Book Review, Spring 2006)
Rachel Sheridan, the daughter of missionaries, is orphaned in remote Africa and immediately "adopted" by a wealthy couple, the Pritchards, whose own daughter has died of the current influenza epidemic. They are not to be trusted-and we are to learn why-and they force Rachel to assume the identity of their daughter. Rachel is sent back to England to try and soften Mr. Pritchard's father, her "grandfather," so that the grandfather will leave the Pritchards all his fortune. Meanwhile, Rachel only dreams of returning to the village in Africa and reopening the hospital her parents started. As in Homeless Bird, Gloria Whelan's National Book Award-winning novel, we are immediately pulled into the protagonist's world and not released till the very satisfying ending, having experienced with Rachel Sheridan extreme fear, unexpected love, and finally redemption. Ms. Whelan's characters are well-developed, sympathetic, and real. Once again, also as in Homeless Bird, the main character gives us someone to cheer for. This book could be used in language arts classes to study character development and also lends itself to historical perspective when Rachel, as a young woman in 1920s London, wants to go to medical school and realizes what she is up against. Category: Adventure, Coming of Age, Realism. 2005, HarperCollins Publishers, $16.89. Ages 10 to 18.

Leta Tillman (The Lorgnette - Heart of Texas Reviews (Vol. 18, No. 3))
Thirteen-year-old Rachel Sheridan is left an orphan when her missionary parents in British East Africa in 1919 die during the influenza epidemic. She turns to her English neighbors, the Pritchards, for help but becomes entangled in their plot to regain their inheritance. As part of their scheme, Rachel is sent to England to pose as the Pritchards’ daughter, Valerie, who also died in the epidemic. Her job is to win over her ailing “grandfather” and his money. With great reluctance, Rachel poses as Valerie in the home of the elder Pritchard for two reasons. She fears that the deceit is her only way of staying out of an English orphanage, also she cannot bear the thought of causing the death of Mr. Pritchard if she tells the truth. She and the grandfather share a love for the bird life that inhabits his spacious property. Their love for each other grows as well, which makes it even harder for Rachel to tell him the truth. Intertwined with stories of her love for what is now Kenya, the animals of the countryside, and the Masai people, Rachel entertains the grandfather as he tries to figure out her motives. The story continues with her admitting her deceit to Mr. Pritchard, her adoption by him, her college education, and her return to Africa as a doctor to open the hospital that had to close when her father died years before. This is a well-written story by Whelan that is similar to Frances Hodgson Burnett’s classic, The Secret Garden. This will be a great book for serious readers of this age level. Fiction. Grades 4-8. 2005, HarperCollins, 194p., $16.89. Ages 9 to 14.

Elaine J. O'Quinn (VOYA, August 2005 (Vol. 28, No. 3))
Readers who became Whelan fans after discovering Homeless Bird (HarperCollins, 2000) will not be disappointed in this novel, although they should be forewarned not to expect the same kind of story. Whereas Whelan's National Book Award-winning title defies readers to put it down, this new novel is a story that will be taken more slowly as it unfolds and chronicles the unusual circumstances of Rachel Sheridan, the thirteen-year-old protagonist. Set in British East Africa in the year 1919, the tale follows the events of young Rachel's life from the moment she loses her missionary doctor parents to influenza, to her "kidnapping" by another couple who need her to replace their own young daughter fallen by the same illness, to Rachel's graduation from medical school and return to Africa. She hopes to reopen the hospital long since shut down by her parents' untimely deaths. Rachel's adventures are not the kind that invite the reader to speed through her story. Rather they encourage steady contemplations of the various tragedies, deceptions, and rewards that come her way. Listening for Lions is a quiet story that roars in its ability to help readers make sense of hardships that befall humankind. It speaks softly but leaves a lasting impression of strength of character and the wisdom of following one's dreams. It will have lasting appeal and a ready audience. VOYA CODES: 4Q 4P M (Better than most, marred only by occasional lapses; Broad general YA appeal; Middle School, defined as grades 6 to 8). 2005, HarperCollins, 208p., $15.99 and PLB $16.89. Ages 11 to 14.