Paint the Wind

August 20, 2007
An overprotected orphan, an imperious guardian who dies suddenly, a tender reunion with long-lost rustic relatives—Ryan (Esperanza Rising
) opens her tween crowd-pleaser with tried-and-true material, and follows with even more of a sure thing, a horse story. The author gets the romance just right, from 11-year-old heroine Maya’s aching desire to learn about her long-dead mother and fit into her mother’s family, to Maya’s instant connection with the horses raised and trained by her great-aunt Vi. Details surrounding the care and riding of horses are both authentic and copious. Accordingly, readers aren’t likely to mind either the clichéd characters or gaps in plausibility. Nor will they blink as Ryan interweaves the narrative with segments told from the perspective of a wild mare named Artemisia (after, says Vi, the 17th-century painter Artemisia Gentileschi): “She draped her neck over his withers, reassuring herself that wasn’t going anywhere with a band of bachelor stallions.” When Maya learns that Artemisia was once her mother’s horse, a pairing seems inevitable; Ryan exploits it for maximum effect as the centerpiece of an attenuated survival sequence that involves an earthquake, broken bones, near-starvation, bareback riding and, of course, a bond between wild horse and child. The overstuffed quality of the plot may seem like a good thing to the target audience—adventure plus horses trumps realism anytime. Ages 9-12.

November 26, 2007
When her imperious grandmother dies suddenly, 11-year-old Maya, an orphan, is sent to Wyoming to live with her mother's family—strangers to her, thanks to her grandmother's high-handed notions. There Maya discovers a love of horses, especially those raised and trained by her great-aunt Vi. A skilled actress, McInerney captures Maya's longings and her growing confidence. The narration adroitly shifts from childlike to a more serious tone as segments are told from the perspective of the wild mare, Artemisia, whose path will intertwine with Maya's. Others of Maya's relatives, such as her grandfather Moose and great-uncle Fig, speak with a twang that firmly places the story “out west.†As a bonus, Ryan reads from the trail diary that inspired the book. Ages 10-up. Simultaneous release with the Scholastic hardcover (Reviews, Aug. 20).