What if winter came in July? What if traffic jams were caused by elephants rather than cars? What if a giant dung beetle crawled among the clothes in your closet … would that be a problem? Welcome to the brave new world of Jennifer "Scout" Lauer, a smart and savvy New Yorker who, at 13, is psyched about the next big change in her life: junior high school. But fate has other plans, and moves her to South Africa instead.

SCOUT'S SAFARI opens when Scout, nicknamed for her childhood curiosity, must move to a remote area outside Johannesburg, where her mother and stepfather run a rustic safari lodge. As Scout learns, big-city life was a lot different from the way she must live from hopping aboard "kombi" vans instead of the subway, to taking showers in a shed and staying on alert for hungry animals.

Minus familiar comforts such as hotdog vendors and central heat, Scout confronts nature -- including prowling lions and a wildebeest stampede -- and learns valuable lessons about what really matters in life.