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juliettechihyu's review against another edition
2.0
It wasn't bad but nothing really happened throughout the novel.
dianarojas's review against another edition
A nice little read. My daughter is fascinated by all things horses, so this helped me understand her lingo a little more. She, however, found it too dull. Could be that it appeals more to the big girls and not the 10 year olds. I'll suggest it again in a year.
lisa_mc's review against another edition
3.0
Jane Smiley, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of “A Thousand Acres,” has returned to the topic of horses, this time in a book for preteens.
Like Smiley’s “Horse Heaven,” “The Georges and the Jewels” takes a fond, detailed look at all things equine. Unlike that wickedly satirical novel, “Georges” is straightforward and much more serious than funny — but most preteens aren’t yet savvy enough for satire anyway, so this is not a strike against it. What “Georges” does have is Smiley’s sharp eye for detail and excellent writing style.
Seventh-grader Abby Lovitt has a life that many a young girl would envy: She rides horses every day. But her family raises horses for a living, so her riding isn’t just for fun, it’s work. So that no one gets too attached to the horses that come and go, all the geldings are named George and all the mares are named Jewel.
Working through frustrations with "Ornery" George, Abby deals with a motherless foal and cliques at school, as well as getting a glimpse into another lifestyle as she helps get a rich girl’s show pony into shape.
The setting is California in the early 1960s, but the story could almost be set today, except for the Lovitts’ lack of a TV. The story lines are engaging and won’t get confusing for young readers. But the ending feels hurried and the lessons learned are fairly predictable — though they are good ones nonetheless.
“The Georges and the Jewels” probably won’t become a classic horse story like “National Velvet” or “Black Beauty” — it’s nuanced rather than melodramatic and doesn’t have a big contest at the end (or vampires or robots, for that matter) — but it won’t be for lack of a good story or good writing.
Like Smiley’s “Horse Heaven,” “The Georges and the Jewels” takes a fond, detailed look at all things equine. Unlike that wickedly satirical novel, “Georges” is straightforward and much more serious than funny — but most preteens aren’t yet savvy enough for satire anyway, so this is not a strike against it. What “Georges” does have is Smiley’s sharp eye for detail and excellent writing style.
Seventh-grader Abby Lovitt has a life that many a young girl would envy: She rides horses every day. But her family raises horses for a living, so her riding isn’t just for fun, it’s work. So that no one gets too attached to the horses that come and go, all the geldings are named George and all the mares are named Jewel.
Working through frustrations with "Ornery" George, Abby deals with a motherless foal and cliques at school, as well as getting a glimpse into another lifestyle as she helps get a rich girl’s show pony into shape.
The setting is California in the early 1960s, but the story could almost be set today, except for the Lovitts’ lack of a TV. The story lines are engaging and won’t get confusing for young readers. But the ending feels hurried and the lessons learned are fairly predictable — though they are good ones nonetheless.
“The Georges and the Jewels” probably won’t become a classic horse story like “National Velvet” or “Black Beauty” — it’s nuanced rather than melodramatic and doesn’t have a big contest at the end (or vampires or robots, for that matter) — but it won’t be for lack of a good story or good writing.
tcbueti's review against another edition
4.0
If you love horses, you'll LOVE this book. It's brimming with ideas about training horses. But even if you don't love horses, there is lots to like here.
Abby and her parents run a horse farm: her dad buys horses and (re)trains them so that they can be "ridden by a young girl". That's where Abby comes in: if she can't ride a horse, that claim can't be made and money will be lost. Her dad won't let anyone name the horses--the boys are all "George" and the girls are all "Jewel". Abby's parents are fundamental Protestants; her dad is so strict that he's driven her older brother away, so now all the work of riding and training their various horses falls to Abby. It was interesting and unusual to see a young girl bearing so much responsibility in the financial success of her family. She works HARD.
When one horse, "Ornery George", bucks Abby off, she begins to see, for the first time, that maybe her dad is not infallible, and so begin her first steps to some independence. This is also where the fascinating stuff about horse training comes in.
In addition, Abby is struggling with a tricky school situation--her small school has few options for friendship, and her best friend has been usurped by a new girl who likes boys, drama, plotting and all those things that can make middle school it's own special kind of h**l.
Her frustration at school is, thankfully, balanced by the satisfaction she gains form her work with horses. The two lives feel very separate--sometimes that's how you survive. Smiley very aptly captures that feeling of lonliness you can get when you start to doubt your social standing.
Horsey girls will eat this up, but others will enjoy it to.
Abby and her parents run a horse farm: her dad buys horses and (re)trains them so that they can be "ridden by a young girl". That's where Abby comes in: if she can't ride a horse, that claim can't be made and money will be lost. Her dad won't let anyone name the horses--the boys are all "George" and the girls are all "Jewel". Abby's parents are fundamental Protestants; her dad is so strict that he's driven her older brother away, so now all the work of riding and training their various horses falls to Abby. It was interesting and unusual to see a young girl bearing so much responsibility in the financial success of her family. She works HARD.
When one horse, "Ornery George", bucks Abby off, she begins to see, for the first time, that maybe her dad is not infallible, and so begin her first steps to some independence. This is also where the fascinating stuff about horse training comes in.
In addition, Abby is struggling with a tricky school situation--her small school has few options for friendship, and her best friend has been usurped by a new girl who likes boys, drama, plotting and all those things that can make middle school it's own special kind of h**l.
Her frustration at school is, thankfully, balanced by the satisfaction she gains form her work with horses. The two lives feel very separate--sometimes that's how you survive. Smiley very aptly captures that feeling of lonliness you can get when you start to doubt your social standing.
Horsey girls will eat this up, but others will enjoy it to.
rainweaver13's review against another edition
4.0
A good book for girls and young women (and 62-year-olds) who love horses (and wrestled with family, religion, and middle school). Young Abby has to deal with a strict religious father, a brother who couldn't take it any more and left, a mother who tries to keep the peace, friends and acquaintances at school who are deep in the vicissitudes of junior high girls (which is a strange and unpredictable place)... but she has the horses. Her father buys, trains and resells horses, and Abby helps train them so that "a little girl can ride it." He doesn't want her to get attached to the horses so he won't let her name them. All the mares are Jewel and all the geldings are George.
Naturally, things happen. "The Georges and the Jewels" left me with a wistful smile and slightly back in touch with the horse-crazy girl I was at that age. I may read the other books in the series just for calming in these unsettled days.
Naturally, things happen. "The Georges and the Jewels" left me with a wistful smile and slightly back in touch with the horse-crazy girl I was at that age. I may read the other books in the series just for calming in these unsettled days.
lvandyk's review against another edition
3.0
I was disappointed by Smiley's first novel for young readers, perhaps because I think so highly of everything else I've read by her. Two things that bothered me: 1) The story is set in the Sixties, but that is totally arbitrary. The decade could have been anything and it wouldn't have mattered at all. 2) The protagonist, Abby's, parents are very religious, but Smiley lets that plot line whimper away without adding any of the insights about growing up in a conservative, evangelical home that I expected based on her previous work.
peacel's review against another edition
5.0
I put off reading his book for so long because I've had a bit of a time trying other 'horse' books, and then being virtually the same: teen drama in barns. Ugh!
But not so with this one. It's actually about her relationship with the horses, about her riding, about the family business of buying and selling horses.
Jane smiley has a talent I admire greatly: to create amazing, well-rounded characters who are NOT perfect- who are real. Abby's (the main character) father is not perfect- but by the end of the book you see that he loves his daughter despite their differences. You can't help but feel like you might know these people, but from where?
This was a quick read but definitely not just for horse-obsessed Tweens!
But not so with this one. It's actually about her relationship with the horses, about her riding, about the family business of buying and selling horses.
Jane smiley has a talent I admire greatly: to create amazing, well-rounded characters who are NOT perfect- who are real. Abby's (the main character) father is not perfect- but by the end of the book you see that he loves his daughter despite their differences. You can't help but feel like you might know these people, but from where?
This was a quick read but definitely not just for horse-obsessed Tweens!
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