Review: Darcy by Whitney Sanderson

Darcy by Whitney Sanderson. A Horse Diaries Book.

Random House Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: January 2013
List Price: $6.99
ISBN-13: 9780307976352

Review: Have you ever read a book with a unique, original theme and a concept that easily draws you in? Well, that's exactly what Horse Diaries: Darcy does. This book is very interesting and although the subject has been attempted before, this book has a new outlook on animals narrating or speaking in a story. With very detailed, beautiful artwork and in-depth descriptions to match, Horse Diaries completely drew me in after just the first page. In this book, the pretty illustrations just add to the picture in your head that can be created by the author's words. This story lures you in as easily as a horse is lured to waterÉ

This book is about a horse named Darcy, who, at a young age, is torn from her small filly friend Ciara in an unfortunate accident. She is raised up by two mares, and is eventually auctioned off to a new family, the McKennas. After eventually accepting her new home, she bonds with her large family and learns the ins and outs of her new farm. After she meets the new rich family in town some 20 miles away, she can see that not all families are as nice as hers. She discovers her talent when she is put up against all odds, and is tested later when she is expected by everyone to fail. The McKennas however, keep their faith in the trusty old mare. Will her families encouragement, and the memories of late Òshadow sisterÓ Ciara be enough to help her defeat all odds, or will she let the pressure get to her?

I think this is an awesome book, because not only does it keep you interested with quirky characters and interesting twists and turns, but helps you learn more about Irish culture and common horses in that area. This amazing book is both entertaining and educational. It's intriguing Irish dialect keeps you thinking, yet it is easily to figure out what the equivalent in English is. The title completely describes the book very well, and is not misleading. You can easily figure out what the book is about without being too predictable. The title fits the book perfectly because it is just like a diary, it tells about her own (Darcy's) life, and explains the other people in her life while expressing her own thoughts, opinions and feelings to the audience who is reading. Darcy almost engages the reader, by giving her opinion, but leaving you with her own thoughts with you to think about and try to understand with her. Having her own opinions and thoughts stated further intrigue readers, because many would want to confer with her imaginary character their own opinions and thoughts. When a reader feels welcomed or invited to want to agree, disagree or ponder about the actions or thoughts a character does or expresses, most will want to keep reading and will enjoy getting a chance to be so involved in the story. Overall, this is an awesome book with quirky characters, an interesting setting, beautiful illustrations and descriptions, and is a story that gets the reader involved. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes animal stories (especially fiction ones) or anyone who would just like to learn more about horses or Ireland.

Review written by (th grade student).

We would like to thank Random House for providing a copy of Darcy for this review.

Have you read Darcy? How would you rate it?