Pacy, gripping writing with extraordinary, atmospheric world-building. The cliff scenes in Ch12-14 - WOW. And the wonder of it all. A girl who runs with a leopard! Just amazing. Love everything Nizrana Farook writes.

Farook has done a wonderful job in penning a story apt for her target audience; right from font size, length of chapters, to language and description is perfectly suited for middle-graders.
There’s a lot of action and adventure which is sure to keep the young readers hooked. But this is not just an adventure story. There are beautiful messages being shared, and they don’t sound preachy at all. Children would learn about living in harmony with nature, familial ties, the power of friendship, and kindness towards animals in a fun and exciting manner.
I love stories that have a satisfactory resolution and character arc. In this story, not only the main character Selvi, even her mother, friends, and aunt’s arc show completion. A big plus for me!
There are a few bits that may seem far-fetched for adult readers but would make perfect sense to the middle-graders.
The Girl Who Lost A Leopard is a joy to read, and I am sure children would enjoy it a lot.

This is the heartwarming story of a young girl and her friends, who form a bond with a wild leopard, later saving it from a group of poachers. This book hooked me in straight away and I loved every moment. Selvi is a brave, strong female character who alongside her friends achieves an impossible feat. The story also teaches children about the importance of nature and stopping poaching, in an exciting and interesting way. Loved it and will definitely be recommending this book to the children in my class.

I’m a big fan of Nizrana Farook and so was delighted to return to Sri Lanka for another wild escapade. The Girl Who Lost a Leopard is another great adventure story, suitable for pupils in Year 4 and above. In this book we join Selvi as she attempts to save a beloved leopard from cruel poachers.

I love how Farook’s books act as a springboard to discussion around challenging topics facing our world today. The simplicity of her stories makes them easy and engaging for readers whilst offering great insight into the plight of wildlife in our world.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC - I very much look forward to adding this book to my classroom bookshelf.

Unfortunately, for all that could have been great about this, and for all its good intentions, what I read was very heavy-handed and overwrought. Selvi is very much a Mowgli-type wild child, and has somehow taken to running with one of the local leopards, and so her nature causes heavy-handed portrayal of family politics, South Asian-style. News of what she does as a hobby leads to heavy-handed looks at bickering in the classroom, leads to news that Lokka is being hunted by poachers, leads to a quite risible cliff-top action drama scene. That done, a classroom discussion over the benefits of culling leopards for financial gain is just far too clunky and unsubtle. There is no way that toning things down would have made this less appealing – the whole read, with its admirable narrative drive, coming across like a fantasy, so rarefied is the semi-real Sri Lankan landscape and the leopard-girl relationship at the core of the book. Let's face it, this is a quite gripping read, but seems unaware it would still be so were it much less blatant – although, that said, the third act's 'people power' message is also cheese of the ripest Hollywood kind. Readers – and leopards – deserve better.

Another fantastic book by Nizrana Farook. I absolutely loved reading this and can’t wait to read more books by Farook

I was lucky enough to be approved to read a proof copy of Nizrana’s new book on netgalley (thank you to netgalley and the publisher) and I have raced through it. I love Nizrana’s books for their simplicity; they have beautiful descriptions that you can picture in an instant, short chapters that are fast paced and exciting plots that often contain messages about friendship, the beauty and importance of nature and it’s creatures and standing up for what you believe in.
This title does just that. The main protagonist, Selvi, has befriended a leopard and will do whatever it takes to keep it safe. Follow her adventure as she uncovers some difficult lessons about poaching, the truth about a family member and the meaning of true friendship.

I loved Nizrana's previous books and was so excited to get a sneaky preview via Netgalley!
This book does not disappoint, the same pace and interest as her previous titles, with characters you just love instantly.

In this story Selvi is a young girl living in Serendib (which I had to look up and is the Persian be for Sri Lanka.) She is close to nature and has befriended a leopard. Selvi is new to her school and hasn't yet made any friends, other than her Lokka. Find out what happens when you mix in friendships, poachers, controlling uncles and a stunning landscape.

I loved this book as much as the other books by Nizrana Farook. An exciting adventure that I’m sure the children in my class will love.