West with Giraffes by Lynda Rutledge

Woodrow Wilson Nickel, at age 105, feels enough energy for one last act: to write his story. At age seventeen, he travelled cross-country with two giraffes. It’s 1938 and Woody embarks on a twelve-day adventure to deliver the giraffes to the San Diego Zoo. The experience is filled with assorted characters; people that will make you want to weep at their acts of kindness and those that you’ll want to punch in the face. And of course, there are the gentle giants themselves, the two giraffes. Inspired by true events, this novel is a great mixture of adventure, history, and coming-of-age love story.

I’ll need to read more by this author!