Horses of the Dawn #1: The Escape
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