I read quite a few Zilpha Keatley Snyder books when I was a kid, I remember most of them having a surreal or fantasy element- sometimes in the background, but definitely there. Gib Rides Home is so much more down-to-earth. She said it was written in tribute to her father, who spent part of his childhood in an orphanage in Nebraska. The main character is Gibson, who’s been in an orphanage since he was six. He barely remembers his previous life, just a few muddle scenes, nothing substantial. The first part of the story is about his difficult life with the other orphans, the privations and abuse they often suffer, and their ways of getting along. Most of it is not pretty. Gib has a dream that keeps him going: a dream to be adopted into a loving family with lots of kids, a big house, etc. He builds on this dream whenever he can, waiting for sleep to come or sitting in the dark of the punishment room. Then one day a shock: a man comes to take him away. But it’s not a real adoption- he’s being farmed out- basically free labor for a local family. Gib is worried this will be worse than the orphanage, he’s heard of farmed-out kids being worked brutally hard, fed little, and exposed to harsh weather conditions.
He can’t believe it seems like his dream is coming true when he gets taken into a large, well-to-do house with lots of people in it. Soon finds out that the reality of this family is tough to handle, even if a lot of things here are far better than where he was (the food, for example, is great). Most of the people in this household are adults, most of them stern or unfriendly, and the one child practically refuses to speak to him. In fact, she seems to hate him for no reason he can understand, and the father of the house acts like he doesn’t exist. Gib is stunned to realize that some things in this household jog his memory- he’s connected to this family in some way, though nobody will tell him how or why. It takes a long time to tease the truth out of people: something to do with a past tragedy, and the family falling on hard times. Most of the answers he gets only raise more questions. In the meantime, he works hard at his chores, makes the most of what little schooling is provided, and finds that he has a natural ability for working with horses. It’s his love of the horses that starts to bring more answers out of the family. Right when he’s figured out what’s really behind everyone’s attitude towards him (and the horses), he becomes more hopeful for the future, but then it looks like things will all fall apart . . . except they do come right suddenly again, at the very end. Leading straight into the next book, I’m assuming.
So it was more of a mystery than anything else, I think- though I did love reading all the parts about how Gib worked with the horses, the joy and feeling at ease he found there. Some of the parts about the orphans and how other farmed-out boys were treated are really difficult to read: be forewarned. Bodily harm, physical abuse and neglect, even to the point where one boy dies.
Borrowed from the public library.
