Booktalking Colorado - Full Booktalk Record

Booktalking Colorado Full Record:

	Title:	Balook
	Author:	Anthony, Piers
	Date Published:	1990
	Genre:	Fantasy
	Grade Level:	6 - 7
	Booktalker:	Sam Marsh

Booktalk:
Balook was gone. Escaped, ran away, without saying goodbye to me. Balook is a Baluchitherium/Indricotherium, the only one in the world, a prehistoric Rhino. They thought his enclosure was big enough…and strong enough. But, it's hard to realize just how strong Balook had gotten. Something must have either spooked him, or been of real interest, because he simply powered through the 20 foot high electrified fence built to withstand twenty thousand pounds of pressure. Then again, Balook weighs about nine tons, 20,000 lbs., now! Anyway, he was gone, and I’m the one that discovered it; me, Thor, his best and only friend in the whole world. Luck and genetic engineering brought Balook to life, and my curiosity and friendship (and luck) brought me to be the only one that Balook would tolerate and that he would eat for. See, I’m a loner and had no friends except my pony who had died, until I met Balook. We got along and enjoyed each other's company. So, I had been allowed to keep seeing Balook, as he would not even eat without me around.