Horse by Geraldine Brooks

Horse by Geraldine Brooks
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Read this for my Albright College zoom book club and the back and forth history of the characters & horses was intense and so enlightening! My heart broke a lot reading this book---especially for the character Jarret, a slave who lives with Lexington his whole life and Theo and Jess who live in the present and discover a shared passion in their jobs---horse bones & art history & a dog. This book encompassed the racism that was present in the past & still in the present---I did not like the horse racing either because of the toll it took on the horses from obsessed owners. I loved learning Lexington's history as a race horse & stud and the bond with Jarret was beautiful. Highly recommended!

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Ride On by Faith Erin Hicks

Ride On by Faith Erin Hicks
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I love this author so much and this was given a 2022 Nerdie Graphic Novel Award and I see why! Victoria is a 12 year old who rides horses & has a best friend. When the competition of competing & her best friend pressures are too much, Victoria goes to a new stable. But she has vowed not to get too close to anyone and that proves a mistake! Edgewood Stables is a great place with a wonderful owner, trainer and committed riders who want to befriend the new girl. I loved the differing personalities of Norrie, Sam, and Hazel---how will they deal with the new rider they see as competition? A must read & enjoyable!

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Crossing the Line: A Fearless Team of Brothers and the Sport That Changed Their Lives by Kareem Rosser

Crossing the Line: A Fearless Team of Brothers and the Sport That Changed Their Lives Forever by Kareem Rosser
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

OMG! This is definitely a MUST READ! Many thanks to my reading neighbor, Carrie Ogorek, for so fully pushing this book into my hands. The life Kareem Rosser describes in "The Bottom" of West Philadelphia was so sad, fraught with death, violence, and trauma. With a mother and many brothers and sisters, many fathers - all absent, Kareem is a shy, shell shocked child who grows into a fearful teen--but his older brothers lead him to the Fairmount area on one of their explorations and it is there he falls in love with horses. The horses are the balm that Kareem needs to live, to heal, to grasp for something better out of the bottom. Fraught with problems every step of the way, he is able to grow in the Work to Ride program, white owner, Lezlie Hiner provides---he also learns how to play polo with his brothers and together they dream of a life away from the violence that is their neighborhood and life. I could not stop turning the pages, Kareem writes from the heart about his life of undiagnosed panic attacks, his daily fear for the members of his family and friends, and his "new" life as he strives for better against all the odds thrown up time and time again. This is a MUST READ for all! I donated immediately to the Work to Ride program because "they---Kareem as a fundraiser too-- want to build an indoor polo field and I also read that he has partnered with famous polo player, Nacho Figueras is bringing the 1st Philadelphia Polo Classic in September 2022, what an amazing event.

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Dark Horses by Susan Mihalic

Dark Horses: A Novel by Susan Mihalic
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Wow, just Wow! Mihalic's debut was stunning, gripping, terrifying! Roan is only 15 years old when this novel begins but she has the maturity and tenacity of an adult; a much older, time worn woman. Being raised by totally normal looking parents; they are a scary dysfunctional family with few redeeming qualities. Her mother is an alcoholic, a beauty who no longer models, hates her husband and daughter because she feels they chose each other and not her. Poor Roan does not know why her mother can't love her; she even told her about the abuse from her father and it fell on deaf ears. Roan has been lashed to her father since she was a child; he controls her every movement. She is an award winning equestrian (just like her father) but there are strings attached, and in order to survive Roan places aspects of her life in boxes in order to deal. As she grew up the abuse continued and with it threats--her father killed her dog, threatens to take away beloved horses, and punishes her when she falters. Add to this a high school friend who becomes someone special and life becomes filled with more and more secrets threatening to explode. But Roan has been groomed by the best, her father and along the way she has learned to become skilled in deception and as her life with her father collides with Will Howard, Roan tries desperately to live with her father's expectations and her interest in this new boy's attentions. I could not stop turning the pages while I was entranced by the world Mihalic created of the beauty of farms, horses, and competition. I rooted for Roan and hoped her resilience forged from her father's demands would help her find her way to a life she deserved. A must read about family dynamics, sexual abuse, and the power of love. Highly recommended!

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The Wild Path by Sarah R. Baughman

The Wild Path by Sarah R. Baughman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Thank you to @sarahrbaughman, #BookJunkies, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers for allowing me to be an early reader of The Wild Path by awesome author, Sarah Baughman, in exchange for an honest review. Oh, did I love this book! I read this sad, ultimately hopeful middle grade novel in one day which crushed me and pulled me back to a positive place; I could not put it down! Readers will love Claire; how she deals with the loss of her brother, Andy, the angst of the support meetings she must attend, her quest to find out more about twelve-year-old Jack Hamilton and his horses, and her resolve to win first place in her History Project to save her beloved horses. Claire is truthful, introspective, and doing her best to weather a storm. With parents who care but are dealing with their fear for their son and their inability to pay bills, Claire understands but fears life without her beloved horses, Sunny and Sam. Sarah Baughman’s detail to plot and characters dealing with challenges, the depth of these characters, the beauty of nature, tackling drug addiction and family dynamics, proves this is an authentic book. Claire’s epic struggles with family issues, how she deals with her grief and pain while her brother is in rehab, the imminent loss of her beloved horses and finding an old box containing mysteries, and maybe answers, make this a must-read book!

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Ghost Medicine by Andrew Smith

Ghost Medicine by Andrew Smith
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I love Andrew Smith; his writing captures my heart and this early book (2008) of his was a winner. There is a tight knit group of friends who live out West on farms- Troy is the main character telling the story about his friends who mean more to him than life- Tom Buller, Gabe & Luz Benanvidez. This is a pivotal summer as Troy grapples with missing his dead mother, being in love with Luz, working for her Dad, and dealing with the sheriff's son, Chase who is a bully, thief, and nasty beyond words. This book was somber, made my heart ache, and I loved learning what good kids these teens were, how much they loved their farm life, the horses, and the hard work. What will their lives hold for them after this summer?

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The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Lauren, thank you so much for highly recommending this book! It was so right up my alley with what I truly love to read. Maggie Stiefvater crafted such a great story with a believable storyline about "water" horses, orphans, the rich vs the poor and a romance that slowly grows between Kate "Puck" Connolly and Sean Kendrick, a horse-whisperer of the carnivorous sea horses. The island of Thisby is a hard scrabble place that needs the tourists the annual Scorpio Races brings, to survive. Puck and her two brothers have lost their parents to the flesh eating horses and life has been very difficult since then for them. Whereas Puck and Finn love the island, older brother Gabe has announced he is leaving with his two friends, because he can't take it anymore. Sean Kendrick and Puck alternate telling their stories. Sean Kendrick loves his Capill uisce, Corr and Puck loves her quarter pony; and it is Sean who stands up for Puck as the first female rider, against those islanders that challenge her. I really disliked both Mutt Malvern and his father. I wanted to like Mr. Malvern, but I could see that he was like Sean Kendrick (poor) but he was never going to let Sean or Corr go. I saw true evil in Mutt and it was difficult to read when he tried to "hurt" those associated with Sean Kendrick. But it was the slowly moving, delicate relationship of Puck and Sean that I applaud. Stiefvater takes two people who are animal lovers and through deliberate situations, moves them from strangers, to acquaintances, to friends and then a mutual respect and love. Highly recommended!



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