Hart, A. (2007). Gabriel's horses. Racing to freedom trilogy, book 1. Atlanta: Peachtree.
The name of the book I just read was Gabriel's Horses by Allison Hart. It is a Golden Sower nominee for 2010-2011. The genre is historical fiction and the time period was set back during the civil war in Lexington, Kentucky. This book was one of those that you pick up and start reading and can never put down. Right from the beginning Ms. Hart has you "hooked" when you first read of the main character, Gabriel. He is a twelve year old slave boy living with his family at
Woodsville Farm. Gabriel loves helping his father (a free man) who works as a horse trainer for Master Giles. His father's love and kindness toward the horses is passed on to Gabriel when he becomes a jockey for
Tenpenny, one of Master Giles' thoroughbred race horses. Gabriel is a natural with the horses because he relates to them and gives them all of his heart. The plot becomes tense when Gabriel's father enlists in the Union army in order to buy his wife and son's freedom someday. Gabriel is left to care for the horses and his mother. It is not an easy task when Master Giles hires a new trainer who has a violent temper and mistreats the horses and wants to whip Gabriel for being insubordinate when asked to harm the horses. Another great plot in the story is following the crimes of an infamous confederate raider who is out to get Master
Giles's thoroughbreds. He rides with his men throughout the countryside terrorizing the farms by stealing horses, supplies and leaving a trail of destruction behind. Much of the story is actually based upon real life
heros and criminals who lived during the civil war in Lexington, Kentucky. I absolutely LOVED this story. It has such heart! I highly recommend this book to anyone (especially if you love horses). If you love this book you might also love Gabriel's Triumph or Gabriel's Journey the next two stories in the trilogy, or read Pink and Say by Patricia
Polacco. Check out this heartwarming author at:
http://www.alisonhartbooks.com/Answer these 2 questions after you read this book:
How would you feel if your father left you and your mother alone to fight for your freedom?
What events in the story could be factual and what events would be fiction?
Hello,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your summary of this book. I think books like this are great for kids to read. Not only to learn about how there were (and are) social injustices, but to read how the characters overcame them with such hope and faith. The perseverance of characters like these is always very inspirational for young and old alike.
I think I'll read this one!
Hi Mrs. Eby,
ReplyDeleteSorry for the formal title, but I do not know your first name. I read a book about the Civil War also. It was called Juilet's Moon. It gave the Confederate point of view about the Civil War. I wonder if it would be possible to use both of these books to show the different perspectives - the Union view and the Confederate view?
Bob Sprague