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Hoofbeats: Katie and the Mustang #4
Katie and the Mustang
With trepidation, Katie continues Westward with the Kylers. The mountainous terrain makes for difficult traveling, and they arrive in Oregon shortly before the winter snows hit. While the Kylers and the others begin the search for land, Katie's worst fears are confirmed. Her uncle is not there. Then she realizes that she has brought the Mustang home, and she cannot keep him with her anymore. Left with no family and without the Mustang to rely on, Katie must find her own way...
144 pages, Hardcover
First published May 1, 2004
2 people are currently reading
139 people want to read
About the author
Kathleen Duey
157 books362 followersKathleen Duey grew up in Colorado. She loved riding her horses, hiking, being in the mountains. Reading was always important to her. Writing became a fascination early in her life. In the fourth grade, Kathleen began writing stories and told everyone who would listen that she was going to be an author. Then she did nothing about it until she was 35 years old. Writing was her passion and her dream-come-true.
from: fantasticfiction.co.uk
Kathleen died of cardiac arrest at her home in Fallbrook, California. She was 69. She had struggled with dementia in her latter years which prevented her from completing her Skin Hunger trilogy.
https://web.archive.org/web/202101052...
from: fantasticfiction.co.uk
Kathleen died of cardiac arrest at her home in Fallbrook, California. She was 69. She had struggled with dementia in her latter years which prevented her from completing her Skin Hunger trilogy.
https://web.archive.org/web/202101052...
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
May 22, 2017
Though this is meant for younger readers, I couldn't help but love it, particularly the perspective of the stallion at the beginning of each chapter
March 2, 2024
Ok, this book…was actually super super good. Some small issues, yeah, but overall the story was accurate, realistic, and interesting.
It showed the truth about the Oregon Trail. The starvation of animals and humans alike, the sickness, and the exhaustion. It even showed very accurate deaths of both animals and humans, which is something a lot of books geared towards younger readers shy away from. So many books rely on what I call “petty problems”. This is not one of them. This book, this whole series, deals with grief, death, peril, and abuse. It talks about very real, very serious topics, and I respect that a lot.
The Grover plot line was one of my favorites that I’ve read in a YA book. Mostly because the abuse that he faced and how it affected him was very, very accurately written. This is the plot line that actually brought me close to tears a couple times.
I also really appreciated the fact that multiple characters died on the journey. Some YA books decide to have no actual death in them, but this book delved into accurate deaths not once, but twice. Stuff like that makes the book seem so much more real.
The ending also kept it very, very real. I thought that Katie and the Mustang weren’t going to get their happy endings together, but I expected it to be written as if they would, as many horse stories are written. Katie letting him go felt like a very raw, truly emotional moment. I also kind of drew her letting go of the Mustang to her letting go of her past, her foolish hopes, and her grief.
There were points where the writing was a little bit out of place, and there seemed to be places with typos that got overlooked, but these things didn’t draw away from the beautiful message of the story.
It showed the truth about the Oregon Trail. The starvation of animals and humans alike, the sickness, and the exhaustion. It even showed very accurate deaths of both animals and humans, which is something a lot of books geared towards younger readers shy away from. So many books rely on what I call “petty problems”. This is not one of them. This book, this whole series, deals with grief, death, peril, and abuse. It talks about very real, very serious topics, and I respect that a lot.
The Grover plot line was one of my favorites that I’ve read in a YA book. Mostly because the abuse that he faced and how it affected him was very, very accurately written. This is the plot line that actually brought me close to tears a couple times.
I also really appreciated the fact that multiple characters died on the journey. Some YA books decide to have no actual death in them, but this book delved into accurate deaths not once, but twice. Stuff like that makes the book seem so much more real.
The ending also kept it very, very real. I thought that Katie and the Mustang weren’t going to get their happy endings together, but I expected it to be written as if they would, as many horse stories are written. Katie letting him go felt like a very raw, truly emotional moment. I also kind of drew her letting go of the Mustang to her letting go of her past, her foolish hopes, and her grief.
There were points where the writing was a little bit out of place, and there seemed to be places with typos that got overlooked, but these things didn’t draw away from the beautiful message of the story.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 4, 2018
{Want to see other reviews for obscure series or best sellers? Go here: https://feathertonescom.wordpress.com... }
‘Ware Spoilers!
Generalized Synopsis: Basically the story is a series of small plots in an overarching theme. The best way to experience the books is to read them all in one sitting (very easy to do) once you have them. All but book 2 is available from Archive.org.
The story centers around Katie, a little girl who ends up, after some bad circumstances, an orphan being taken in by a childless couple. In a Harry Potter-esque fashion, Katie ends up in an even worse situation – which weirdly fits the timeline this is all happening- and finds herself escaping her stepparents with a mustang that the man had bought. The horse is, of course, wild to anyone who isn’t Katie. The rest of the books revolves around Katie traveling the Oregon Trail, first with the farmhand who helps her get there, then again with another family all the way to Oregon City.
What I liked: The one thing I’ve come to appreciate about Duey’s plots is they’re entirely grounded in realistic expectations. She follows in Marguerite Henry's fashion, where the protagonist doesn’t always get what they want in the end, or does get something close to what they wanted, despite everything. I appreciate it and find it terribly depressing at the same time. I grew up with the books where everything tied up perfectly in a bow, the protagonist’s dreams and wishes become reality and the bad guys got their just desserts. This doesn’t completely happen in this book. The whole book gravitates around the girl’s relationship with this horse, and yet at the end she’s forced to make a difficult decision. The whole drive behind the plot is to find her uncle, as we’re reminded constantly all the way up to the end, and that doesn’t exactly end how she expected, either. It’s great in that it shows children this … sense of realism, reality, what the world is actually like. But at the same time it’s just like man something needs to go right, something über positive needs to happen here.
What Annoyed Me: While I liked the realism, some of the wishy-washy characters were frustrating, and only showed just how weak the plot really is. It is a children’s series. The plot revolves around relationships and circumstances, and some of those characters only existed to be the antagonist, to cause conflict, or to…evolve into protagonists later in the books for no real reason other than the author wanted them to.
Overall: This series has its faults, sure, but it’s a really good animal/historical fiction series. It does have negative notes, and I would suggest reading it yourself before deciding if your child is up for it. I’d say it’s for mature older children, or children who enjoy these types of books.
I give this series 3 Stars.
‘Ware Spoilers!
Generalized Synopsis: Basically the story is a series of small plots in an overarching theme. The best way to experience the books is to read them all in one sitting (very easy to do) once you have them. All but book 2 is available from Archive.org.
The story centers around Katie, a little girl who ends up, after some bad circumstances, an orphan being taken in by a childless couple. In a Harry Potter-esque fashion, Katie ends up in an even worse situation – which weirdly fits the timeline this is all happening- and finds herself escaping her stepparents with a mustang that the man had bought. The horse is, of course, wild to anyone who isn’t Katie. The rest of the books revolves around Katie traveling the Oregon Trail, first with the farmhand who helps her get there, then again with another family all the way to Oregon City.
What I liked: The one thing I’ve come to appreciate about Duey’s plots is they’re entirely grounded in realistic expectations. She follows in Marguerite Henry's fashion, where the protagonist doesn’t always get what they want in the end, or does get something close to what they wanted, despite everything. I appreciate it and find it terribly depressing at the same time. I grew up with the books where everything tied up perfectly in a bow, the protagonist’s dreams and wishes become reality and the bad guys got their just desserts. This doesn’t completely happen in this book. The whole book gravitates around the girl’s relationship with this horse, and yet at the end she’s forced to make a difficult decision. The whole drive behind the plot is to find her uncle, as we’re reminded constantly all the way up to the end, and that doesn’t exactly end how she expected, either. It’s great in that it shows children this … sense of realism, reality, what the world is actually like. But at the same time it’s just like man something needs to go right, something über positive needs to happen here.
What Annoyed Me: While I liked the realism, some of the wishy-washy characters were frustrating, and only showed just how weak the plot really is. It is a children’s series. The plot revolves around relationships and circumstances, and some of those characters only existed to be the antagonist, to cause conflict, or to…evolve into protagonists later in the books for no real reason other than the author wanted them to.
Overall: This series has its faults, sure, but it’s a really good animal/historical fiction series. It does have negative notes, and I would suggest reading it yourself before deciding if your child is up for it. I’d say it’s for mature older children, or children who enjoy these types of books.
I give this series 3 Stars.
July 3, 2017
Can we just...hats off to the illustrator for all these covers cuz they are gorgeous
March 27, 2023
I really like this book. I was really sad when she let the mustang go with the other wild horses 😢. But when she heard that one of the mares was going to have a baby she was really excited 😆!
July 21, 2014
3 1/2 stars
Kathleen Duey fascinates me. She wrote over 80 books for young children about horsies and unicorns and fairies, and then suddenly switched to writing dark, atypical fantasy books such as Skin Hunger and Sacred Scars. So when I found one of her pony books in a used book sale, I was curious.
HOOFBEATS is a surprisingly good book. Some things I recognized from her YA series - for example, the writing style is clear and detail-oriented, enriching the story with tiny, well-researched details such as the various tasks the characters need to do. Also, I love how Duey doesn't shy away from darker details. She isn't afraid to tell her readers how and why horses and oxen must be put down after they break their legs in the story.
And the story itself is lovely. The overarching plot (travel to the West) is a thin thread which binds the many interesting subplots together. Friendships are forged, loved ones are lost, and powerful decisions are made. The characters were great to root for - even though I've only read the last book, to me, Katie was a wonderful heroine. She is an orphan, searching for a home - who can't sympathize with that? Her developing relationships with other characters and her explorations of her own emotions were interesting to read about, and her story ends beautifully. It stuck with me for a while.
All in all, I'm impressed with this little booky. It transcends its "pony book" genre (I would instead call it a "children's historical coming-of-age adventure") and becomes something memorable.
Kathleen Duey fascinates me. She wrote over 80 books for young children about horsies and unicorns and fairies, and then suddenly switched to writing dark, atypical fantasy books such as Skin Hunger and Sacred Scars. So when I found one of her pony books in a used book sale, I was curious.
HOOFBEATS is a surprisingly good book. Some things I recognized from her YA series - for example, the writing style is clear and detail-oriented, enriching the story with tiny, well-researched details such as the various tasks the characters need to do. Also, I love how Duey doesn't shy away from darker details. She isn't afraid to tell her readers how and why horses and oxen must be put down after they break their legs in the story.
And the story itself is lovely. The overarching plot (travel to the West) is a thin thread which binds the many interesting subplots together. Friendships are forged, loved ones are lost, and powerful decisions are made. The characters were great to root for - even though I've only read the last book, to me, Katie was a wonderful heroine. She is an orphan, searching for a home - who can't sympathize with that? Her developing relationships with other characters and her explorations of her own emotions were interesting to read about, and her story ends beautifully. It stuck with me for a while.
All in all, I'm impressed with this little booky. It transcends its "pony book" genre (I would instead call it a "children's historical coming-of-age adventure") and becomes something memorable.
March 4, 2011
Ms. Liddy McKenna gave everyone a shock, I think she was awesome, also I think what happened to Grover's Mother was a good thing for him. The ending was not what I thought it would be, but I think that it was better in the end for Katie.
April 1, 2015
I wish I still had these books...its nostalgic just finding them here on Goodreads. I really enjoyed them when I was younger.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews