Product Description It's summer vacation and all 13-year-old Stevie Buckbee wants is to be close to her family again and to ride her horses--especially Jack Rabbit, her first horse all her own. But past tragedies threaten her plans before the summer has a chance to begin. Even as she discovers that she is somehow able to communicate with Jack Rabbit and the other horses on the family ranch, she finds she can no longer get through to her Dad and brother Blake. And what good is it to be able to run with the horses if no matter how fast and how far she runs, everything she knows and loves is lost?
My take on this book:
Stevie Buckbee misses her family, or what's left of it. She only receives a few cards a year from her mother, who left the family a few years ago, and then with the death of her brother Edwin, her dad decided it would be best if she spent the school year in Tulsa with her aunt and uncle. Although she spent school breaks at home on the family ranch in Antlers, OK, she is anxious to return for good. When summer break arrives she is anxious to head home for good, all she ever dreams of is being home with her dad and brother Blake ,and to spend time with her beloved horses, especially Jack Rabbit a feisty horse her father purchased for her. While on spring break Jack Rabbit threw her but that doesn't diminish her plans for training and racing him over summer break. When she arrives home her dad seems distant, and her brother Blake is making plans to go away to college in the fall. The ranch looks neglected, and there are fewer horses boarding there. When she learns she has developed a special connection with the horses, being able to communicate with them thru thoughts, and sometimes feeling what they feel, she isn't sure at first its real. With everything going on at the ranch, the one thing she fears is that her dad will send her back to Tulsa in the fall. Can the family pull together, and will things ever be normal again for Stevie?
Stevie is a young girl coming of age, who has dealt with a lot of upheaval in her life. The author does a remarkable job of portraying Stevie's feelings. She seems like a young girl lost in alot of ways without alot of control over what goes on around her. While she is a bit headstrong at times, especially when it comes to listening to people who are trying to teach her how to ride her horse. She is also very practical and worries about those around her.The author tackles some very heavy subjects such as the abandonment by her mother, the death of her brother, her father's alcoholism, and her brother Blake growing into his own person, wanting to spread his wings away from the ranch. The authors writing drew me to Stevie immediately, and made it easy to connect with her. I could also see where her family was coming from, they are all suffering, and each one is handling it the best way they can. Her dad really feared abandonment as well, but the things he did often pushed the people closest to him away.
The paranormal twist the author throws in was neat, it was fun to hear the thoughts of the horses, although sometimes it wasn't what Stevie wanted to hear. It was interesting to see her learn to block some of it out.
A heartwarming story that horse lovers of all ages will enjoy reading. A story that is easy to connect with because the author deals with problems that are easy for alot of people to relate to. The characters are also down to earth and easy to connect with, making you hope that all will work out for them.
About the author:
rating 5/5
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