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Summary
Summary
Hannah Gale starts volunteering at a horse stable because she needs a place to escape. Her father has returned from the Iraq war as an amputee with posttraumatic stress disorder, and his nightmares rock the household. At the stable, Hannah comes to love Jack, Super Dee, and Indy; helps bring a rescued mare back from the brink; and witnesses the birth of the filly who steals her heart. Hannah learns more than she ever imagined about horse training, abuse, and rescues, as well as her own capacity for hope. Physical therapy with horses could be the answer to her fatherÕs prayers, if only she can get him to try.
Author Notes
Ginny Rorby was born in Washington, D.C., but spent her first twenty years in Winter Park, Florida. She now lives close to nature, on the northern coast of California, supporting the appetites of five cats (the fourth and fifth appropriately named Spare Cat and Extra Cat), three birds, and a snake named Rosie. Because she does some wildlife rehabilitation, she frequently has an assortment of critters staying with her (past residents have included a bat, a hummingbird, a raven, a turkey, and numerous baby birds).
She writes by hand under a plum tree on a deck overlooking a creek, facing a redwood forest (with at least one cat in her lap). She had been working as a flight attendant for fifteen years when wrote an editorial about an abandoned dog and sent it to a local newspaper. An editor at the newspaper encouraged her to continue writing. Ginny has since received her MFA in creative writing. She was still flying when she wrote Dolphin Sky , so most of it was written while she was standing up in the lower galley of a DC-10 airplane.
Reviews (3)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 6-9-Hannah, 13, has always loved watching horse races on television with her father, but when she begins to help out at a local riding stable, she discovers how much more she enjoys working with real animals, especially those who have suffered abuse. She particularly loves a filly named Rega, the offspring of a Premarin mare (a pregnant horse from which urine is collected to make pharmaceuticals). When her dad returns from Iraq as an amputee suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, Hannah's work at the stable not only helps her cope with the problems at home, but also leads her to equine-assisted psychotherapy and riding therapy for her troubled father. Things improve, but Hannah will need all her strength to make a difficult decision when Rega suffers a terrible injury. Like Rorby's Hurt Go Happy (Tor, 2006), this book is laden with so many issues-the problems of returning vets, various and horrifying types of abuse of horses, humane Parelli horse training methods-that they nearly overwhelm the story, and the horse/human amputee metaphor becomes heavy-handed. However, this novel really shines in showing how horses can help troubled humans heal their physical and emotional wounds. There's plenty of fodder here for spirited book discussions.-Kathleen E. Gruver, Burlington County Library, Westampton, NJ (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Horn Book Review
When Hannah's father comes home from fighting in Iraq, she hardly recognizes the shell-shocked, chronically pained man. Perhaps therapy with the nearby horses will help; but, as Hannah comes to realize, the horses have undergone their own share of trauma. The text, which is a little emotionally overwrought, doesn't shy away from its depiction of violence toward animals. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
Booklist Review
Hannah visits the horses up the road for the pleasure of their company and to escape the pain of her mother's death, the demands of stepmom Sondra, and the fear resulting from her dad's deployment in Iraq. When he comes home missing a leg and plagued by post-traumatic stress disorder, Hannah longs for the old days when they shared a love of horses and a keen interest in famous racehorses. She works with adult friends in the equestrian community horse-rescue activists to get him help through a therapeutic riding program and keep their life together. Although the enormity of loss resting on young Hannah's shoulders spurs her to heroic achievement on behalf of her father, she still comes across as a believable teen. As a backdrop to the story, Rorby has interwoven a good deal of disturbing information about animal cruelty. Horse lovers and most others will saddle up right away with this poignant tale.--O'Malley, Anne Copyright 2010 Booklist