A Horse Named Sky

August 1, 2023
In mid-19th-century Nevada, a colt named Sky grows up to lead his band of wild horses. Parry's moving story follows the pattern of her recent animal tales, A Wolf Called Wander (2019) and A Whale of the Wild (2020), chronicling a wild animal's life in the first person, imagining its point of view, and detailing and appreciating the natural world it inhabits. As Sky grows from wobbly newborn to leader of his family, he faces more than the usual challenges for colts who must fight their stallions or leave their herds when they are grown up. Fagan's appealing black-and-white illustrations help readers envision this survival story. Sky's adventures include forced service with the Pony Express; being befriended by an enslaved Paiute boy; escaping to find his now-captured band; and helping them escape the silver miners who'd destroyed their world. Animal lovers will applaud his ingenuity and stubbornness. Although Sky's band has suffered serious injuries (his mother is blind), he and Storm, a mare who was his childhood companion, lead them toward safety in a new wilderness. The writer's admiration for these wild horses and her concerns about human destruction of their environment come through even more clearly in a series of concluding expository essays discussing the wild horses, the Indigenous Americans, the natural history of the Great Basin, silver mining, and the Pony Express. A feel-good tale of a clever and determined stallion set against a well-developed landscape. (author's note, resources) (Fiction. 7-10)

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October 13, 2023

Gr 3-7-Sky isn't a big horse, but he is fast. Readers meet him as a newborn, experiencing the world from his eyes, and are treated to his wonderment, as well as the challenges of living in the wild. There are big expectations of even the youngest horses. Because Sky is a foal, he knows he will one day have to either fight his father or leave his family, since there can only be one male horse in a family band. A drought makes that day come sooner than he'd like, and he sets out on his own so he is not draining limited water, leaving behind his band and best friend Storm. He's overjoyed to find that Storm has left the band to join him, but the two are soon captured and groomed to become horses on the Pony Express. Perry has created an entirely convincing setting in which humans are secondary to animals. Imaginative descriptions keep readers guessing the horse interpretation of human vocabulary. Sky's puzzlement over human behavior is sometimes poignant, and sometimes humorous. He's stunned to learn they can speak, and is advised not to try to confuse them, as their capacity to understand is limited. Perry's portrayal of the dynamics between domesticated horses and wild horses is compelling. Those born in captivity believe themselves to be superior to those born in the wild. Despite plentiful water and food, Sky never loses his determination to escape. This standalone companion to A Wolf Called Wander and A Whale in the Wild offers readers a unique perspective of the development of the American West. Frequent soft black-and-white illustrations enhance Perry's poetic prose. VERDICT This compelling novel has wide appeal and readers need not be horse or animal lovers to appreciate its heartfelt message of family and freedom.-Juliet Morefield

Copyright 2023 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 1, 2023
Sky is a wild mustang, at home in the Virginia Range of western Nevada. From his earliest days, Sky learns to live as part of a herd. During a time of drought when Sky must leave his band to search for water, he is captured by humans. He is used by the Pony Express and then is captured by silver miners. There, faced with horses and donkeys who are suffering from poisoned air and water, Sky leads a rebellion to free the captured animals. Sky's first-person narration of his adventures is engrossing and fast-paced. His vocabulary is appropriate to a wild horse; human hands are grabbers, corrals are traps, and mountain lions are claw beasts. Parry weaves historical and environmental information smoothly into the narrative. Sky's life depends on water and the healthy plants and animals in his surroundings, so readers finish the book with a strong sense of the impact of human choices on animal and plant life. As she did with A Wolf Called Wander and A Whale in the Wild (rev. 1/21), Parry writes a convincing fictionalized life of one wild animal while addressing issues of community, survival, and care for our environment. Fagan's realistic black-and-white illustrations convey the windswept mountain terrain and the movement of the horses. Extensive back matter includes detailed information about the historical and environmental context of the story. Maeve Visser Knoth

(Copyright 2023 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)