This book featured an equine sport I wasn’t familiar with- endurance racing. With Arabian horses. The main character is a teenage girl whose mother had died in an accident in a race. The daughter still loves the horse her mother had trained and ridden, even though her father can’t stand the sight of it, and has forbidden her to ride. He’s afraid to loose her too. She works in a stable near her house, hoping that Astra (the mare) will fulfill her mother’s dream, of becoming a champion. Her friends at the stable question how she can prepare this horse for racing when she isn’t allowed to ride it. There’s a boy at the barn who teases her, and another new boy shows up who immediately catches her attention- he’s kind, and cute- and often makes her feel flustered. There’s the complicated feelings to work through at having lost her mother, and dealing with her father’s grief, anger and strict rules. She thinks she has it all figured out, but then the horse falls ill, and all her plans change. The story suddenly becomes one of nursing the mare back to health, when all the adults around her have given up on it. There is a good turnaround at the end, I won’t tell how. It was so interesting to read about how the horses were trained for this particular type of racing, and what the race day entails. The story felt true to life (as far as I can tell) but not told very fluidly- there was a lot of tell (not show), and quite a bit of info dumping at the beginning- so at times I got a little bored or frustrated reading it. Quite a few other books by this author about horses that all look interesting, but I don’t know if I’d like them, because of how the style didn’t quite sit easy with me. Maybe it’s just my mood though, and I should give a few others a try. It is a good story.
Borrowed from the public library. Completed on 6/30/24.