Any good horse books like Paint the Wind?
Byi love fiction horse book i love the adventure. does any1 know any good horse books like Paint the Wind by Pam Munoz Ryan??
"God of Animals," by Aryn Kyle, is an unflinching, powerful, honest, and achingly beautiful coming-of-age tale set in the American West. The period is most likely the mid-1970s–a time before computers, the Internet, cell-phones, satellite T.V., and antidepressant medications. The story is told entirely from the point of view of Alice Winston, a lonely twelve-year-old growing up on an aging horse ranch in Desert Valley, Colorado. There are two transitions that take place over the course of the novel: one involves the ranch moving in a new direction, and the other involves Alice growing into adolescence. Both are wrought with difficulty and pain.
The ranch has been in the family for three generation, but it’s fallen on hard times and may not survive. Rich suburbs are taking root everywhere and the ranchers must adapt or fail. The days of proud horse breeding are over. The new business is catering to the needs of wealthy suburban horse lovers. It’s the direction and reality of modern life. There is nothing they can do to halt it.
Alice’s transition into adolescence is just as inevitable and wrenching, but there’s a twist. At twelve, Alice is already an adult. It’s primarily Alice’s body that’s undergoing change, but naturally the bodily changes induce a flood of emotional and psychological changes as well. It is these that Alice has difficulty understanding, and there is no one in her life to help. Alice’s mother is clinically depressed–she’s barely left her bedroom since Alice was a baby. Once a star horsewoman, now she is a mental invalid incapable of parenting Alice in any meaningful way. Alice’s father, Joe, is overwhelmed keeping his business afloat, and is blind to his daughter’s emotional needs. He fails his daughter at every turn. Alice has had to parent herself–in almost every way, she is mature beyond her years. Alice’s older sister is gone. She ran away a year ago to marry a cowboy. Alice has no friends–she’s different, isolated, not like the other primarily suburban girls that populate her school. Adding to her emotional anguish, a classmate recently drowned. It’s a difficult time, and Alice feels isolated, alone, adrift, and abandoned.
Alice’s father, Joe, treats her like an adult ranch hand. When she’s not at school, she’s expected to do a man’s work. Joe is a rough unsentimental realist, and is obviously trying to raise Alice in the same mold. But Alice is having a hard time remaining unsentimental. Unlike her father, she is acutely aware of the emotional side of life, particularly the emotional needs of animals. She looks at their suffering and feels that the world is as blind to their needs as it is to hers. With practiced detachment, she takes in all the everyday cruelty and abuse that often forms the foundation of ranching. Outwardly, she does not flinch, but inwardly she rails against it. Alice knows all too well that the world can be cruel and unforgiving.
Two adults eventually enter Alice’s life and offer her some degree of emotional support. Unfortunately, she finds out that both are merely using her to achieve their own private agendas.
This is a simple story about everyday realities. I loved both the human and animal characters, as well as the rich acceptance of reality that underscore this humane novel. I also loved the author’s fresh, powerful prose.
This is a subtle, unflinchingly honest view of life in all its complexity. It is a book about coming to terms with the reality of human isolation and cruelty. It’s about making peace with the dark core of humanity.
My eyes brimmed with tears when I finished this novel–not with sadness, but with acceptance and truth.




2 Comments
June 5th, 2010 at 1:07 pm
One of my favorite horse books is My Friend Flicka. There are 2 other books that are by the same other that are also good.
National Velvet and Black Beauty of course if you haven’t already read them.
Esperanza Riding
Riding Freedom
References :
June 5th, 2010 at 1:36 pm
"God of Animals," by Aryn Kyle, is an unflinching, powerful, honest, and achingly beautiful coming-of-age tale set in the American West. The period is most likely the mid-1970s–a time before computers, the Internet, cell-phones, satellite T.V., and antidepressant medications. The story is told entirely from the point of view of Alice Winston, a lonely twelve-year-old growing up on an aging horse ranch in Desert Valley, Colorado. There are two transitions that take place over the course of the novel: one involves the ranch moving in a new direction, and the other involves Alice growing into adolescence. Both are wrought with difficulty and pain.
The ranch has been in the family for three generation, but it’s fallen on hard times and may not survive. Rich suburbs are taking root everywhere and the ranchers must adapt or fail. The days of proud horse breeding are over. The new business is catering to the needs of wealthy suburban horse lovers. It’s the direction and reality of modern life. There is nothing they can do to halt it.
Alice’s transition into adolescence is just as inevitable and wrenching, but there’s a twist. At twelve, Alice is already an adult. It’s primarily Alice’s body that’s undergoing change, but naturally the bodily changes induce a flood of emotional and psychological changes as well. It is these that Alice has difficulty understanding, and there is no one in her life to help. Alice’s mother is clinically depressed–she’s barely left her bedroom since Alice was a baby. Once a star horsewoman, now she is a mental invalid incapable of parenting Alice in any meaningful way. Alice’s father, Joe, is overwhelmed keeping his business afloat, and is blind to his daughter’s emotional needs. He fails his daughter at every turn. Alice has had to parent herself–in almost every way, she is mature beyond her years. Alice’s older sister is gone. She ran away a year ago to marry a cowboy. Alice has no friends–she’s different, isolated, not like the other primarily suburban girls that populate her school. Adding to her emotional anguish, a classmate recently drowned. It’s a difficult time, and Alice feels isolated, alone, adrift, and abandoned.
Alice’s father, Joe, treats her like an adult ranch hand. When she’s not at school, she’s expected to do a man’s work. Joe is a rough unsentimental realist, and is obviously trying to raise Alice in the same mold. But Alice is having a hard time remaining unsentimental. Unlike her father, she is acutely aware of the emotional side of life, particularly the emotional needs of animals. She looks at their suffering and feels that the world is as blind to their needs as it is to hers. With practiced detachment, she takes in all the everyday cruelty and abuse that often forms the foundation of ranching. Outwardly, she does not flinch, but inwardly she rails against it. Alice knows all too well that the world can be cruel and unforgiving.
Two adults eventually enter Alice’s life and offer her some degree of emotional support. Unfortunately, she finds out that both are merely using her to achieve their own private agendas.
This is a simple story about everyday realities. I loved both the human and animal characters, as well as the rich acceptance of reality that underscore this humane novel. I also loved the author’s fresh, powerful prose.
This is a subtle, unflinchingly honest view of life in all its complexity. It is a book about coming to terms with the reality of human isolation and cruelty. It’s about making peace with the dark core of humanity.
My eyes brimmed with tears when I finished this novel–not with sadness, but with acceptance and truth.
References :