Book Review: Red River Stallion

Red River Stallion
Author: Troon Harriosn
Genre: Middle-Grade Fantasy
Published: Bloomsbury (Feb 2013)
Rating: 4/5

As 2013 came to an end my friend, Kim, and I found ourselves on the verge of change. Another year had come and gone and neither of us had made progress in our writing careers. Vowing we would we would work harder to get our names in print we purchased books that cold New Year's Eve. A couple of days before Kim had sent me a link to the Red River Stallion by Troon Harrison. One year ago, I read Harrison's novel The Horse Road which brought me back to my childhood days of reading Marguerite Henry's novels like "Misty of Chincoteague" and "King of the Wind". It was these novels that started my love for books, reading and writing. Now, twenty years later, I thirst to both read and write novels like Marguerite Henry's. I ordered this novel sitting in Kim's room as we talked about our dreams to become published writers.

Amelia Ottergirl Mackenzie is an orphan left to care for her younger half-sister, Charlotte, after their mother dies. The girls are half-Cree living the life of their mother's people near a trading post of the Hudson Bay. Amelia has seen her animal spirit guide in her visions, but has never seen any such creature in the living realm. One day, she is saved by the red stallion name Firefox and forms a close bond with him, even though he belongs someone else. Firefox is the dowry a woman, Orchid, is bringing to her husband across the Red River Valley. Amelia is drawn to follow the horse's travels and discover what happened to her Scottish father. She longs to find a place where she and Charlotte belong and a place where she can thrive in her new found love of horses.

Harrison is successful in giving historical details through both prose and dialogue in her novel. The language is beautiful, eloquent and gives the readers the imagery needed to envision the historical setting. Amelia's narrative is authentic and shows her maturity while retaining the teenage voice. Harrison has researched many historical and cultural elements and has successfully written an accurate portrayal of the view a half-Indian child might have. This novel is a must-read for horse enthusiasts or those that love strong female characters.

Horses are a creature symbolic of freedom and journeys. Harrison's novel is a tribute to this Native American belief and it is found in the words of every page. I hope readers will enjoy the journey this book takes them on.

(Book #1, 2014)

Book Reflections of 2013

Sorry, my dear blog readers! After promising I would continue to regularly post book reviews after October I failed in this task. I have read many books the past few months, but these books dealt more with  self-improvement techniques. This year has been hard for me looking for a job, losing my father, and maintaining a long distance relationship, but there were novels I read that helped me through it all. There were a few stories that seemed to reach inside my soul and take out the pieces of my heart. If was as if I could lay them out and look at them and how they were shaped, sharpened and even broken. How did they fit together? Where had I left some of the pieces? Were some of the pieces going to be found along the way?

To honor these books, I have decided to write a list their titles and only say they helped me on many levels. There is something about stories and writing that has always helped me through the hardest times in my life. I suspect, it's because every time I read a novel my soul learns something new about human truths and the human condition. Humans are always changing as their circumstances change and as they have new experiences. After all, are you not different now than you were last year, last month, last week, yesterday or even an hour ago? Have you not grown and changed in ways you never thought possible?

1. Snow Country by Yasunari Kawabata
2. A Song of Fire and Ice by George R. R. Martin
3. Queen of the Damned by Anne Rice
4. The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
5. Catch Rider by Jennifer H. Lyne
6. Dark World by Zak Bagans
7. Letters from Skye by Jessica Brockmole
8. A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki 
9. Essay in Idleness by Kenko
10. The Secret Circle #1-3 by J.L. Smith
11. Wabi sabi: The Japanese Art to Impermanence by Andrew Juniper
12. Spirit Princess by Esther Friesner
13. Walking in the Dust by Trent Reedy
14. Ink by Amanda Sun

Thank you for reading my blog! I will be posting more regularly again from now on. As for a reading goal for 2014 I have chosen a simple one: read all of Haruki Murakami's novels. This gives me an excuse to read Norwegian Wood again!

Purchased in Japan and waiting to be read  in 2014!