The Escape (Horses of the Dawn #1)

Inspired by Hernando Cortes's 1519 reintroduction of horses to the New World for the first time in several thousand years, this inventive novel launches the Horses of the Dawn series. Lasky (the Guardians of Ga'Hoole series) tells the story through the perspective of Estrella, a filly determined to find her bloodline's ancient home in the New World. Born on a ship sailed by Spaniards on a gold-seeking mission to Mexico, Estrella, her dam (mother), and several other horses are thrown overboard to lighten the vessel. As her mother sinks after a shark attack, a flash in her eyes reveals to Estrella her destiny to follow the scent of sweet grass and the image of a tiny, sprinting horse to lead her herd to freedom. A resonant mystical undercurrent marks the quest, which involves occasionally bloody clashes with animal predators and unscrupulous humans. Lasky successfully fuses fantasy and fact as she gives her equine characters credible emotional depth and underscores the tensions and disparity between Old and New World sensibilities. It's a haunting story of loss, self-discovery, survival, and homecoming. Ages 8-12. (Jan.)

Gr 4-6--Lasky begins this new series with an origin story about wild mustangs. The young filly Estrella, named for the star-shaped mark on her forehead, is born on a conquistador's ship heading for the New World. When the conquistadors decide to jettison the weaker and older horses, Estrella and her dam, Perlina, are dumped into the ocean with several other horses. Perlina dies in a shark attack, but Estrella and the other horses make it to land. Guided by Estrella's visions of faraway grasslands, the horses head north from Mexico toward the Western plains of what is now the United States. It is a long and hazardous journey through jungles where they encounter jaguars, crocodiles, and other predators. Their most dangerous encounters, however, are with human beings, as the horses become caught up in the clash between Spanish soldiers of fortune and the Native people. The author includes some gruesome but historically accurate details about what happened to these animals during the Spanish conquest. This story is fast paced and full of action, but there is also a mythic resonance in Estrella's visions of the horses' long ago prehistoric ancestor and their return to North America. Although the horses are anthropomorphized to a degree, Lasky creates a believable culture for them, based on actual equine behavior. Young equestrians and horse lovers are an obvious audience for this series, but fans of Lasky's previous books will also find much to enjoy.--Kathleen E. Gruver, Burlington County Library, Westampton, NJ