Firehorse by Diane Lee Wilson

Plot: when horse-loving teenager, Rachel, has to move to Boston in the year 1872, she is forced to leave behind her beloved horse, Peaches. Rachel does not think she'll like Boston very much, but soon she discovers a new horse, The Governor's Girl. The Girl is a firehorse, and was burned badly in a huge blaze. Rachel takes her in and cares for her, but her father has strict ideas on where women belong - in the home. Will The Governor's Girl be left for dead, thrown out by Rachel's father?

Comments: this book was a great read, probably best for reading all at once on a lazy afternoon or a rainy Saturday. This is a sound fictional tale, good for all kinds of readers. I've never been one for horse-focused stories, but I think the dilemma of the injured horse is nicely weaved in with Rachel's daily life and problems in 1872 Boston. The characters are easy to imagine, simply because I can either relate to them or compare them with someone I know. I don't know whether the characters are modeled after real people or not, but I can definitely think of them as real people. Everything seems so real, as if this is an official narrative written by an American in the late 1800's. I know that the author is writing about real problems in Boston (the contagious horse disease "distemper" spread through the city, striking at least thirty thousand horses) and getting little details from a diary she found, but it's all very well-written.

I have virtually no experience with anything horse-related, but in my opinion, it's very informative and easy to understand. It wasn't completely focused on horses, more on the people around them. I like the point of the view the book is written in, and I can relate to the main character, Rachel. No, I don't want to become a veterinary, and no, I don't have a strict, sexist (not then, I suppose) father, but I like her attitude and the way she won't give up on what she believes in. This book teaches an important lesson; be who YOU want to be, and do what YOU want to do.

Rating: I rate this book a seven out of ten. Interesting plot, nice moral, all in all a nice read.