Book Review: Chancey of the Maury River

Chancey of the Maury River
Author: Gigi Amateau
Published: Candlewick, 2010
Genre: Middle-Grade, Fantasy, Horse Narrative
Rating: 5/5

Anybody who has read my blog in the past knows I love horses. I especially love stories about horses and my favorite novels are usually aimed at middle-grade readers. There is a time in lots of young girls' lives they fall in love with horses. Some will fall out of love in a short time and others will fall in love for life. Much to my parents' dismay, I never stopped loving horses. My mother felt guilty, she could not afford riding lessons so she gave me what she could: books. My childhood days were filled with book like The Saddle Club, Pony Pals, Heartland and novels by Marguerite Henry.

Sometimes, I still go to my local bookshop where I browse the "horse section" for middle-grade readers. This is where I found Chancey of the Maury River. This novel is on the same level of craft writing and plot as War Horse.

Chancey is an albino Appaloosa. He has lived his life with the indifference of his owner while working as a school horse. When his owner faces a financial crisis, he is forced to fend for himself and then abandoned. At Maury River Stables he meets the first human to love him unconditionally. Claire has suffered a great loss, but through her relationship with Chancey she begins to recover. As Chancy ages, Claire learns to share him with other riders in a therapeutic riding program. She and Chancy touch the hearts of other humans and animals as they grow together.

Amateau had done an outstanding job writing this from Chancey's point of view. Chancey's interpretation of the world is authentic and reliable (from a horse's POV). The plot of this novel is well done and both of the main characters grow with each new challenge. Amateau presents accurate knowledge of horsemanship in this novel and has colorfully written images that will stay in her readers' heads.

I heartily recommend this novel for all young equestrians and adults who enjoy horse stories. It will be a book I share with my own children someday.

Book Review: Kings of Colorado

Kings of Colorado
Author: David E. Hilton
Published: Simon & Schuster, 2011
Genre: (Realistic) Fiction
Rating: 5/5

For a couple of years, I kept having an interest in this novel as I walked by it on display at Barnes & Noble. I finally ordered the novel after seeing it for sale on bookoutlet.com to complete my New Year's book order. Kings of Colorado is a of a more tough version of The Outsiders where friends band together to survive against their social enemies.

William Shepard is 13 the night he stabs his father for beating his mother. His punishment? William is sent to the Swope Boys' Reformatory in the Colorado mountains for two years. He will learn who his friends are and who are his enemies. He and his friends will break the horses as the guards break their spirits. In a prison filled with corruption and abuse his friendship with three boys are his only comfort. What is considered  horror will seem like child's play after they learn what Hell is. William will never come out the same boy who entered the ranch. Others who entered will never leave. 

Hilton's writing is an exemplary piece of literary fiction. He imbues every page of this novel with a strong narrative that allows the reader into William's maturing mind. His reactions and those of the other characters drives the story forward with mounting tension towards this novel's climax. Reader's of this novel will feel the characters' emotion evolve in this coming of age novel.

This novel is jarring and will leave you wondering about the emotional scars you have suffered. Perhaps, yours are small compared to what these characters will suffer through as you read.