Sequel to Gib Rides Home. At the end of the prior book, something happened that suddenly made it possible for Gib to go back to the family that had previously taken him in, as a “farmed-out” orphan. Things are different now, the household is a bit more at ease and friendly, and Gib starts to wonder if his position among them has changed. Will he really be adopted this time? Can this be his forever family (although the book didn’t use that phrase). But once again, he can never manage to ask the question (most of the adults are still rather stern) and so he spends a lot of time fretting about this. For the reader it was a bit tiresome, as the first third of the book seemed to be either rehashing what happened in the last one, or mulling over Gib’s constant worry and questions. More mysteries. Then a strange horse shows up at the barn during a bad snowstorm. Gib takes the horse in, and has to work with it by himself, because the man who usually oversees labor on the farm is bedridden with an illness. The horse is frightened and aggressive, but Gib cleverly finds ways to work around that without putting himself at risk, and slowly the horse starts to trust him and respond to training. Now the family has a new mystery to figure out: where did this horse come from? He’s obviously of good breeding and valuable, and also had obviously been mistreated. Gib works hard to get the horse ridable again, and is relieved to finally (after weeks) find out who he belongs to, but then concerned about the horse’s welfare when it is returned. He’s suspicious of the horse’s owner, because of some past bad history with his host family. But then starts to find out more, especially from the other man’s point of view, and realizes they may have all misjudged him.
Of course, my favorite parts of this story were the ones where Gib was involved with horses. There’s a lot more going on too, though. His relationship with the daughter of the house remained prickly at times (she would often go days without speaking to him) and more friendly in other ways. It was complex, and grew stronger with every trial or secret they navigated together. Gib started attending local school, which meant relearning a lot of things- in particular social nuances and how to deal with bullies (he was pretty good at the actual academics). I liked that a significant part of the story dealt with the adult characters as well, how some of them had to overcome their prejudices or assumptions of each other. Gib remained uncertain about his standing with his host family until the very end, when he finally gets an answer to his question: where does he really belong. It didn’t turn out quite the way I expected either, which was a nice surprise.
Borrowed from the public library.
