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A review by craftygoat
The Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls by Anton DiSclafani
3.0
This book was a librarian recommendation based on some other books I've enjoyed. I double-checked a few chapters in to see if maybe it was a YA book. It's obvious by the end of the book that it's not exactly rated PG, but it still seemed youngish to me.
The protagonist was hard to like at first, and I'm not sure why the author included some of the things that made me dislike her -- how did her stealing her mother's muff & her brother's handkerchief, or sneaking through her cabin-mates' personal items, add to her story?
Lots of parallels & symbolism -- the mother who grows roses and kids in an environment where they don't belong, dumb horses whose fault it never is & who don't actually belong to the girls anyway, the girl Thea pushes away because she's too much like herself, the differences in the ways Thea eventually treats her twin and her Cissy. I'm sure these details help the critical acclaim for the author. Overall I found the story unsatisfying, though. I was compelled to keep reading to find out the big family secret, but in the end I didn't feel there was sufficient growth or resolution.
The protagonist was hard to like at first, and I'm not sure why the author included some of the things that made me dislike her -- how did her stealing her mother's muff & her brother's handkerchief, or sneaking through her cabin-mates' personal items, add to her story?
Lots of parallels & symbolism -- the mother who grows roses and kids in an environment where they don't belong, dumb horses whose fault it never is & who don't actually belong to the girls anyway, the girl Thea pushes away because she's too much like herself, the differences in the ways Thea eventually treats her twin and her Cissy. I'm sure these details help the critical acclaim for the author. Overall I found the story unsatisfying, though. I was compelled to keep reading to find out the big family secret, but in the end I didn't feel there was sufficient growth or resolution.