Like most writers, I’ve been a reader all my life. Some of my earliest memories are my mother reading to us. I even have taste and things connected in my mind. When I was two years old or so, Mother read a picture book about Siamese cats and she gave each of us a translucent sky-blue mint candy to suck on. To this day, seventy-six years later, if I see a Siamese cat—especially a seal point—I can taste the sharp mint flavor of the candy. And I have one of those mints, I visualize the cat. But some of the stories I loved as a child haven’t fared as well. I recently read a Five Little Peppers story and was not at all impressed. The writing was stilted and the characters not anywhere near as endearing as I remember.
Last Sunday, my handsome devil and I went, as we usually do, to the semi-annual New Bern Friends of the Library book sale. We go on Sunday so we can load up on a paper grocery bag full of books for $5! What a deal. True to my lifelong love of horse stories, I picked up one entitled, Fury and the Mustangs, by Albert G. Miller. It is part of series about Joey Newton, an adopted boy, who lives and works on a western horse ranch and has tamed a beautiful black Mustang stallion that won’t let anybody else ride him. The story has all the elements of suspense and intrigue that a modern novel has, but it is written in a bland style. The thing that bothered me the most though, was the lack accuracy that most modern publishers would not allow. Especially the lack of attention to knowledge of horses and other animals. Part of this is because I tend to like accuracy, so I’m more inclined to notice incorrect details such as how a rider encourages a horse to change speed. One doesn’t “slap the reins,” one taps his heels against the horse’s barrel. But more serious errors were having this young boy, who would seem to be around fourteen or fifteen years old judging by the amount of strenuous work he is expected to do, throw temper tantrums and run away from home when he gets upset. Still and all, the book did keep me engaged for the most part. And I’ll forgive a lot if animals are involved. Plus, the illustrations were nicely done drawings by Sam Savittt. The story may originally have been made for television.
BIBLIO: 1960, Grosset & Dunlap/Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc., Ages 8 to 13, Price unknown
REVIEWER: Sarah Maury Swan
FORMAT: Middle-Grade
No ISBN
sarahsbookreflections 