A Horse Called Hero

May 19, 2014
Continuing to work in a vein of historical fiction reminiscent of War Horse, Angus follows Soldier Dog with a story about a British boy and a horse trying to find happiness against all odds. Eight-year-old Wolfie Revel’s widowed father was honored with a medal after WWI, but he is being accused of desertion. For safety, Wolfie and his older sister, Dodo, are sent from London to the countryside, along with other children from the city. The siblings manage to stay together, and Wolfie befriends Hero, a grey foal whose friendship keeps Wolfie’s spirits afloat as the years pass despite unfamiliar surroundings, fears about his father’s trial, and horrific war news. Letters from Wolfie’s father provide the boy with measures of both concern and comfort, offering advice concerning horses and life (“Be impatient with the world, Wolfie, but never be impatient with a horse”). Incorporating details about pacifism, horse training, and the dangers facing coal miners (Wolfie ends up working as one), Angus’s expansive novel expresses the confusion and far-reaching effects of war and the meaning of heroism. Ages 9–12.

May 15, 2014
A horse named Hero inspires his young owner to heroics in this suspenseful coming-of-age novel.When British troops escape from Dunkirk, instead of coming home, the widowed father of Dodo and her 8-year-old brother, Wolfie, is listed as missing, and the children are evacuated to the countryside. When their father is found but court-martialed for desertion, the children console themselves by remembering his World War I cavalry heroics; the locals aren't as forgiving, and the children take refuge with an eccentric clergyman and his adult daughter, who raises ponies. Wolfie's discovery of an orphaned foal becomes a lifeline to his maligned father; he names it Hero, and the letters his father writes him about earning a horse's trust become their primary relationship. The war years pass. Hero grows and is trained under saddle; he proves his worth in a desperate slog through bog lands that claims the life of Dodo's horse. Then Hero disappears. Angus' compelling writing and forceful plot mesh well to create a story that's more thriller than historical fiction. The focus of the third-person narration shifts between Dodo and Wolfie, which causes some confusion, and Dodo's character is not as well-drawn as Wolfie's. Some of the wartime details aren't quite right, but they don't hinder the story and will likely pass unnoticed.Adventure, a horse, faithfulness and truth-an arresting combination. (Historical fiction. 10-14)

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April 15, 2014
Grades 4-8 The author of Soldier Dog (2013) shifts from WWI to WWII. Sent down from London to the safer countryside in 1940, 8-year-old Wolfie and his sister, Dodo, spend the war years in Exmoor, doing their best to ignore villagers' gossip about their father, a WWI cavalry hero now imprisoned and charged with desertion after the events at Dunkirk. Wolfie finds and raises a young foal he names Hero after his missing father, who advises and encourages his son via letters: You must never, never break trust with a horse. Wolfie's efforts to keep that trust are the meat of this moving story. In the riveting climax, he recovers his stolen horse, sold to work in the coal mines, only to be trapped in a mine disaster. Courage is . . . when you've no choice, he remembers his father saying. There's plenty of food for thought herefor example, the issues of mine worker's rights and war oppositionbut readers will remember best the determined boy's passion for his beloved horse.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)