Sandra Alonzo

Set in southern California, Yancy runs away upon his horse after his very troubled older brother verbally harasses him and physically abuses his horse. Yancy recalls his travels and his life gorwing up alongside a brother with Conduct Disorder in a journal format with illustrations in the margins. This is a clever rendering of a dysfuntional family and how hard family life can be for the "good kid." Yancy writes about the verbal abuse, the physical abuse, and all the therapy sessions with his family. The bond he has with his horse, Shy, is just amazing and his story of growth is an intriguing one. I thought there were a couple questionable decisions made by the author, but they did not harm the intent of the book. A very good read.… (more)

Set in southern California, Yancy runs away upon his horse after his very troubled older brother verbally harasses him and physically abuses his horse. Yancy recalls his travels and his life gorwing up alongside a brother with Conduct Disorder in a journal format with illustrations in the margins. This is a clever rendering of a dysfuntional family and how hard family life can be for the "good kid." Yancy writes about the verbal abuse, the physical abuse, and all the therapy sessions with his family. The bond he has with his horse, Shy, is just amazing and his story of growth is an intriguing one. I thought there were a couple questionable decisions made by the author, but they did not harm the intent of the book. A very good read.… (more)

Kearsten says: Yancy has lived his whole life in fear of his older brother. Diagnosed with a conduct disorder, his older brother Will's extreme behavior - violence, threats, etc - has basically held their whole family hostage. In order to escape, Yancy has been spending lots of time at a local horse boarding facility, adopting a recuperating horse named Shy, but when Will threatens Shy, cutting off his tail and slashing at his side with a scissors, Yancy, fearing for his horse despite telling his parents what happened, runs away.

Yancy writes of his "adventure" in a journal his parents had given him, including illustrations a la Sherman Alexie's The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. The immigrant Yancy meets while on the run takes him in, giving him a place to stay and board Shy, while Yancy helps out on the ranch where the man is employed. Yancy begins to see his family situation from his parents' point of view - how difficult must it be for them to struggle with such an out of control child, both wanting to help him, to fix him, while trying to protect Yancy and themselves - and when they find him, he tries to come to terms with the whole situation.

I was skeptical of this story from the moment I realized how similar the format was to Alexie's National Book Award winner, and my skepticism increased through the first couple of chapters. Yancy's voice is very young for a 14/15-yr-old at the beginning (especially one who's faced a troubled sibling, who it is later revealed is into drugs, etc.). Alonzo throws is some curse words, but it feels forced. She seems to hit her stride at about the middle, and the descriptions of his family's troubles are scary and sad. I also felt that Yancy's feeling that as the 'good' son, he's become invisible to his parents, as they're forced more and more to cope with their oldest son was realistic and handled well.

I read this as a consideration for the mock Printz awards we hold in our county, and while I think this is worth reading, I don't think it's the best teen book of the year.

Recommended.… (more)

Yancy has lived his whole life in fear of his older brother. Diagnosed with a conduct disorder, his older brother Will's extreme behavior - violence, threats, etc - has basically held their whole family hostage. In order to escape, Yancy has been spending lots of time at a local horse boarding facility, adopting a recuperating horse named Shy, but when Will threatens Shy, cutting off his tail and slashing at his side with a scissors, Yancy, fearing for his horse despite telling his parents what happened, runs away.

Yancy writes of his "adventure" in a journal his parents had given him, including illustrations a la Sherman Alexie's The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. The immigrant Yancy meets while on the run takes him in, giving him a place to stay and board Shy, while Yancy helps out on the ranch where the man is employed. Yancy begins to see his family situation from his parents' point of view - how difficult must it be for them to struggle with such an out of control child, both wanting to help him, to fix him, while trying to protect Yancy and themselves - and when they find him, he tries to come to terms with the whole situation.

I was skeptical of this story from the moment I realized how similar the format was to Alexie's National Book Award winner, and my skepticism increased through the first couple of chapters. Yancy's voice is very young for a 14/15-yr-old at the beginning (especially one who's faced a troubled sibling, who it is later revealed is into drugs, etc.). Alonzo throws is some curse words, but it feels forced. She seems to hit her stride at about the middle, and the descriptions of his family's troubles are scary and sad. I also felt that Yancy's feeling that as the 'good' son, he's become invisible to his parents, as they're forced more and more to cope with their oldest son was realistic and handled well.

I read this as a consideration for the mock Printz awards we hold in our county, and while I think this is worth reading, I don't think it's the best teen book of the year.

Recommended.… (more)