Firehorse

January 1, 2007
Gr 5-8-In 1872, 15-year-old Rachel leaves Illinois and her beloved pony for Boston, where her father has taken a newspaper job. The city is beset with fires, and there are rumors that they are the work of an arsonist. When Rachel accompanies her older brother to the local fire station, she meets The Governor's Girl, a fire-station horse that has been severely burned. She hears the fire captain and veterinarian discussing putting the horse down and saves her, finding new independence and adventure along the way. The author conveys the tenor of the times, especially the severe restrictions facing women, the hazards of living in cities, and the difficult and sometimes tragic lives of city horses. Rachel is a strong-willed, kindhearted heroine. She is resilient in the face of her father's continuous opposition to her dream of becoming a veterinarian. The mystery of the fires and the drama surrounding the life-and-death struggle of The Governor's Girl will keep readers hooked until the end."Carol Schene, formerly at Taunton Public Schools, MA"

Copyright 2007 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from October 15, 2006
It's 1872, and 15-year-old Rachel often escapes the confines of corsets and social strictures by going for gallops on her beloved horse around her small-town Illinois home. When her father moves the family to Boston and the horse is sold, she has a difficult time adjusting to her father's demands of ladylike behavior and her mother's coaxing her toward womanly pursuits. The author of " Black Storm Comin'" (2005), Wilson paces the story well, with tension building: an arsonist is at work setting fires in Boston and the horses needed to pull fire equipment are falling ill at an alarming rate. At first only her grandmother seems to understand the importance of Rachel's dream of becoming a veterinarian, but soon she has other allies, and a path that appeared to be blocked begins to open before her. The love interest and the mystery that are integral to the story are secondary to Rachel's pursuit of her goal, which begins with helping one firehouse horse recover from burns. The novel's finest achievement, though, is the convincing depiction of family dynamics in an era when men ruled the household and women, who had few opportunities, folded their dreams and put them away with the linens they embroidered.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2006, American Library Association.)