True stories: general

Tom Michell is in his roaring 20s: single, free-spirited and seeking adventure. He has a plane ticket to South America, a teaching position in a prestigious Argentinian boarding school and endless summer holidays. He even has a motorbike! What he doesn’t need is a pet. What he really doesn’t need is a pet penguin. Set against Argentina’s turbulent years, following the collapse of the corrupt Perónist regime, this is the heart-warming story of Juan Salvador the penguin, rescued by Tom from an oil slick in Uruguay just days before a new term. When the bird refuses to leave Tom’s side, he has no choice but to smuggle it through customs, across the border and back to school, where it soon transforms the lives of all they meet.