Riding Chance

August 29, 2016
Sentenced to work at a stable after being caught with stolen iPhones, Troy Butler is drawn to the horses and the grace and physicality of polo. To join the team, he must prove himself through hard work, responsibility, and earning the trust of Chance, a discerning polo pony. Set in Philadelphia, Kendall’s debut candidly addresses unfair treatment based on race (Troy, who is black, is harassed by police for walking down the street carrying a polo mallet and struggles with the anger the incident provokes), loss of direction after the death of a parent, and the positive influence of family and community (Troy is offered guidance by many peers and adults throughout). It’s Troy’s connection with Chance, however, that steals the show (“I slid back down to the ground and laid my head up against Chance’s side. Didn’t want anybody to know I had a lump in my throat, but it felt like Chance knew”) in a stirring look into the life of a young man finding passion, inspiration, and direction. Ages 10–14. Agent: Miriam Altshuler, Miriam Altshuler Literary.

July 15, 2016
A troubled inner-city boy learns to play polo in a program modeled after Philadelphia's famed Work to Ride. Troy, 13, has been skipping school and "hanging out with knuckleheads" for nearly a year since his mom died. After getting caught in petty crime with his friend Foster, the boys are assigned to work at the stables in Fairmount Park. (It's implied that both are black, along with most if not all the other characters, but skin color is rarely explicitly assigned.) Troy feels drawn to the horses, especially a polo mare named Chance; after putting in time mucking stalls, he gradually begins to learn to ride and ultimately joins the barn's polo team. Troy, who lives with his father and grandmother, has to deal with both the complexities of his family life and the enduring enmity of some of the other boys--the knuckleheads he's outgrown. In her debut novel, Kendall does a good job capturing Troy's voice but falters a bit in her descriptions of the horses and, especially, what it's like to play polo. Her story is strong in setting and begins well, but the plot falters midway, the story progressing without much at stake until the melodramatic end. Still, it's good to read a horse story with an inner-city black protagonist at home in a black environment. A worthwhile first outing; Kendall shows promise. (Fiction. 10-14)

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September 1, 2016
Grades 4-7 At 13, Troy isn't a bad kid, but when he and his best friend, Foster, get into trouble, the punishment isn't what they expected: they're sent to a stable in Philadelphia's Fairmount Park to muck stalls and take care of horses. No one is more surprised than Troy when he loves it, or when it turns out that he has an aptitude for polo, a sport African American Troy always thought was only for rich white kids. His newfound passion is not without problems, though; Troy clashes both with other kids at the barn and with Foster, who feels abandoned. Although the characterizations sometimes verge on stereotype, this is a thoughtful and necessary glance into a difficult world, and Kendall handles delicate situations with careTroy's tense encounter with the police draws attention to uncomfortable truths without villainization. Inspired by Philadelphia's Work to Ride program, a nonprofit group that uses equine sports to help disadvantaged kids, this is an eye-opening account into a real organization striving for change.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)