Never Mashamba’s 12th birthday couldn’t go worse.

His father, the scientific genius Dr. Mashamba, is shot and wounded by poachers. But what the criminals are really after is the hybrid rhino calf, Sipho, which his father crossbred against all odds.

The Mashambas must flee Zimbabwe for a game farm in South Africa, where Dr. Mashamba can recuperate, and Sipho can get the care he needs. When Never soon realizes that Sipho is in danger, his father doesn’t pay attention to his fears.

Who exactly is after Sipho the rhino calf, and why? Can Never trust his new friends, Becks and Dumisani? And what does a mysterious Ganesh pendant—the only thing Never has from his birth family—have to do with it all?

Set against the real history of Zimbabwe and South Africa’s Mapungubwe region, The Golden Rhino is a unique middle-grade adventure novel that weaves science, mystery, and history into a thrilling story of friendship, identity, and survival.