Macadoo

October 1, 2013

Gr 4-6-From the time he was a colt, Macadoo, a strong Belgian horse, has known that his life's purpose is to help others. He takes this role very seriously: he protects his mother from an attack by a stallion, he saves a filly from being sold into the wrong hands at an auction, and he comforts a human boy who has lost his mother. When he is sold and taken to live at a different stable, Macadoo's distress at being separated from his loved ones is so great that he believes that he will not be able to continue on as a helper and a protector. However, with the encouragement of his new companions-both horse and human-he discovers that he can find friendship in new places, and he embarks on a new journey as a therapy horse. Told from the horse's point of view, this story gives readers the history of one of the minor characters in Amateau's Chancey of the Maury River (Candlewick, 2008). Though the plot is predictable (especially to those who have read Chancey), Macadoo's response to his struggles will resonate with readers, and this volume will likely find a ready audience among lovers of horse stories.-Sarah Reid, Broome County Public Library, Binghamton, NY

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June 15, 2013
This slender novel follows the life of a Belgian draft horse from his yearling days in a pasture in Alberta through several owners until he finds his true calling as a therapeutic and vaulting horse at a riding center in Virginia. Depressed and certain that there is no place for draft horses in the world anymore, his sire bites the tip off one of his ears; the resulting defect (inexplicably) sends him to a "kill" auction instead of one for valuable purebreds. A man named John Macadoo saves him from slaughter and takes him to Virginia, where he becomes the companion of a lonely boy. Another forced sale several years later takes him to the Maury River Stables, where he meets a young girl named Claire and an old Appaloosa named Chancey, both characters from the companion book, Chancey of the Maury River (2008). As with the previous book, overly formal and at times overwrought language mars the readability. Several logical lapses strain credulity here as well--Why would the only two choices for selling the horse be by auction? Why would a physical blemish mean his purebred papers wouldn't travel with him?--and the beginning seems to promise a much grander future for the equine protagonist than the simple tale that unfolds. Macadoo's story will please very enthusiastic horse lovers--and only them. (Fiction. 8-12)

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