Before I begin raving about this book, I must first share a little information about how I came to know about it. I will start off my saying that Dan Gemeinhart has somehow become my fourth grade classes' "spirit animal" this year. After reading Some Kind of Courage aloud to my students, they have become somewhat obsessed with him. At least once a week someone asks me if I have heard whether or not Some Kind of Courage is going to be made into a movie or have a sequel AND when he will write more books (I have since added both The Honest Truth and Scar Island to my classroom library, AND we are not so patiently awaiting Good Dog). With every writing minilesson I present, students refer to Dan Gemeinhart's writing as "perfect examples" of the concept--no matter what the concept seems to be. With all this being said, when I saw a Twitter recommendation for this book by him, I knew I had to add it to my collection. To say I was not disappointed is an understatement.
Recommended for those who enjoy stories of dystopia, adventure, and friendship
A Whisper of Horses by Zillah Bethell is a dystopian novel written for middle grades. Serendipity lives in a walled city where people have been separated into very unequal classes. When Seren's mom dies, she finds herself in possession of a map that she believes shows the last place on earth where horses still exist. Her journey to find this place is an adventure that introduces Seren to new places, new people, and may just help her find her place in the world.
The cast of characters in this book are so well developed that they lingered with me even when the book was closed, and I continued to wonder about them after the final page. Ms. Bethell has accomplished something truly amazing in that even though the main character is a girl, both boys and girls will want to read this book (I can testify to this based on what is going on in my classroom).
It is quite difficult for me to believe that this is Ms. Bethell's first children's book. What a fresh voice for children's literature!
P.S. I have already purchased her next book, The Extraordinary Colors of Auden Dare.
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