Centaur Rising
by Jane Yolen (Author)
One night during the Perseid meteor shower, Arianne thinks she sees a shooting star land in the fields surrounding her family's horse farm. About a year later, one of their horses gives birth to a baby centaur. The family has enough attention already as Arianne's six-year-old brother was born with birth defects caused by an experimental drug--the last thing they need is more scrutiny. But their clients soon start growing suspicious. Just how long is it possible to keep a secret? And what will happen if the world finds out?
At a time when so many novels are set in other worlds, Jane Yolen imagines what it would be like if a creature from another world came to ours in this thoughtfully written, imaginative novel, Centaur Rising.
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Publisher's Weekly
In Yolen's subtle historical fantasy, magic infiltrates the weary lives of a Quaker horse-farming family in the year 1964. Thirteen-year-old Arianne lives with her six-year-old brother, Robbie, who was born with birth defects resulting from thalidomide, and her mother, who has been depressed since the departure of her estranged husband. On the night of a Perseid meteor shower, Arianne witnesses an inexplicable flash of light in the field. One year later, her beloved pony, Agora, gives birth to an adorable, redheaded centaur. The family is charmed and uplifted by Kai, the rapidly growing "pony boy" with two hearts. Yet they worry he will be discovered, judged, and harmed by curious outsiders. Yolen (The Hostage Prince) strikes an elegant balance between fantasy and verisimilitude in her rural, historical setting. Allusions to Cold War-era apprehensions and panic over the world's end (Arianne's classmate calls her a "communist" because she dismisses a recent upsurge in end times prophecies) contribute to a multilayered story that explores human and animal relationships, as well as the triumph of compassion over fear. Ages 8-12.
Copyright 2014 Publisher’s Weekly, LLC Used with permission.
Review quotes
Jane Yolen is an author of children's books, fantasy, and science fiction, including Owl Moon, The Devil's Arithmetic, and How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight? She is also a poet, a teacher of writing and literature, and a reviewer of children's literature. She has been called "the Hans Christian Andersen of America" (by Newsweek) and "the Aesop of the 20th century" (by the New York Times). Her books and stories have won the Caldecott Medal, two Nebula Awards, two Christopher Medals, the World Fantasy Award, three Mythopoeic Fantasy Awards, the Golden Kite Award, the Jewish Book Award, the World Fantasy Association's Lifetime Achievement Award, and the Association of Jewish Libraries Award, among many others.
JUV037000 - Juvenile Fiction | Fantasy & Magic
JUV013000 - Juvenile Fiction | Family | General
JUV016000 - Juvenile Fiction | Historical | General
JUV002130 - Juvenile Fiction | Animals | Horses
