Andrew Smith’s biography says only that he “lives in the mountains above Los Angeles where he keeps horses.” Smith says, “Every time someone tells me where they think [Ghost Medicine] takes place, their guesses always have some connection to a place where they lived at one time... and that's exactly what I wanted.”

I thought the same thing, but he lives not far from me, so surely it’s true for me, though he denies it. In addition to taking place in a wonderful chaparral forest, Ghost Medicine is also a great coming of age story told through modern cowboys.  
 
Sixteen-year-old Troy Stotts lost his brother when he was just a kid.  Now his mother has died of a long and difficult illness.  He and his father communicate mostly through a notepad on the kitchen table, and have for a long time, keeping a special closeness and a certain distance through tough times.

Troy retreats to his horse, the vast countryside, and some of the best friends a guy could ask for.  He tries to remember, to forget, and to find his own path in a difficult world.

He’s thrilled when Mr. Benavidez hires him to spend the summer working on the Benavidez horse ranch with his fearless friend Tom Buller.  Gabe Benavidez and his beautiful sister Luz form the rest of Troy’s tribe of friends, riding horses, exploring, and camping out.

They meet with brush fires, a rattlesnake, and a mountain lion, but the biggest danger turns out to be the sheriff’s errant son.  As the book flap sums it up, “Troy and his friends want to disappear. Instead, they will become what they least expect – brothers, lovers, heroes, and ghosts.”  
 
Ghost Medicine was picked by School Library Journal as one of the best books for boys who like to hunt. Smith says, “I thought this was really cool because I was on the list right next to Where the Red Fern Grows.”

 Ghost Medicine is a Young Adult novel rated for ages 12 and up.

 Happy Reading!

The latest novel by bestselling author, Maggie Stiefvater, is making a big splash. 
The much talked-about Scorpio Races is a paranormal adventure romance with the premise that every November wild carnivorous horses rise out of the sea and wreak havoc on a tiny Celtic island.

 Men of the island capture and try to tame the predatory horses so that they can ride them in the yearly Scorpio Races.  The prize is a big pot of money for the winner, and a hoard of rich race-crazed tourists spreading their wealth across the village.

The cost is also great, however.  Many riders are ripped apart at the teeth of these great and unpredictable beasts both during the races and in the training beforehand.  Told in alternating viewpoints, The Scorpio Races depicts the preparations and outcome of one special year’s race.  
 
Puck Connolly is the sister between an older and a younger brother, orphaned when wild sea horses capsized their parents’ fishing boat several years back.  

If Puck and her horse, Dove, can win the Scorpio Race, she can use the money to save their house.  But no woman has ever ridden in the races, and no regular horse has ever run.  There are many who want to keep it that way.

Sean Kendrick is a veteran of the races at age nineteen, having won four times on his horse, Corr.  He’s the quiet, brooding type, with troubles of his own that he keeps to himself.  

At first he tells Puck to keep her horse off the beach where training is taking place.  It’s too dangerous, and he doesn’t want to have to rescue her again.  But eventually he becomes her ally.

The novel is slow to start, and while I wanted to love the mysterious and powerful carnivorous horses rising from the sea, I couldn’t.  Not until the end when the heart of one of the monsters is revealed.  

It’s a page turner once you read far enough to get hooked, and Stiefvater’s use of language makes the world come alive in a spine-tingling way.  The end, while puzzling in some ways is also very satisfying.

The Scorpio Races is recommended for ages 14 and  up.

 Happy reading!