Thursday, September 25, 2014

Centaur Rising by Jane Yolen

Jane Yolen has written some very good books, so I had to see what she did with a centaur in her story.

Macmillan Children's Publishing Group and Net Galley allowed me to read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published October 21st, so you can grab a copy then.

This book covers more than one subject.  The youngest, a son, has birth defects from a medicine that was used to help control morning sickness at the time of his mother's pregnancy.  Mother and daughter love him dearly and work to protect him from other people's nasty comments.  The father left after his birth.  So divorce has raised its ugly head in their household.

Not only do they have a deformed boy, now a pony that hasn't been bred is pregnant.  Ari saw a falling star during the Perseid meteor shower and thinks magic might be involved.  Her little brother is need of a miracle to keep his spirits up and give him some joy in his life.  When the pony has a centaur, he's thrilled.  The rest of the household is scared;  scared of who will see him and what will happen.

The centaur grows fast and soon is no longer a secret.  I like how they find a way to for her brother to ride him and then open that up to other handicapped children.  The storyline is handled nicely.  The ending is a bit much for me but it's appropriate for the age group the book is geared for and it fits well.  Just suspend your belief system for a bit and read a good fantasy about a make believe animal that's half-human.  You'll enjoy it.

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