49 pages 1 hour read

Holly Goldberg Sloan

The Elephant In The Room

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2021

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Chapters 31-40

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 31 Summary

Mateo and Sila finally make it to Gio’s house without any problems, which relieves everyone. They have a big issue with a pile of dung and the animals it attracts, so they move it outside the wall. Gio decides to sell the dung as fertilizer to make money. Mateo and Sila learn how to manage the fertilizer business. Gio also hires two more people to help on the farm, and everyone settles into a routine.

Chapter 32 Summary

Gio buys eight flamingos to keep Veda company. The person selling the flamingos tells Sila and Gio that they need to trim the birds' flight feathers, or they might fly away. Alternatively, they could have a vet do pinion surgery on the birds. Sila and Mateo do not like the idea of the surgery because it sounds cruel. When the flamingos arrive, they stumble around in all directions and start pecking at Veda's poop.

Chapter 33 Summary

They attract the flamingos to the pond, and to everyone's surprise, the birds start making nests in Veda's poop. It takes some time, but eventually, the flamingos and Veda get used to each other. Three flamingos fly away, but the other five seem happy to stay on Gio's farm.