The Snowbird

by Patricia Calvert

For thirteen-year-old Willanna Bannerman, 1883 was both an end and a beginning. It started with the fire that left Willie and her brother TJ orphaned and sent them on a long, lonely journey with an uncle and aunt they didn't know.

Willie knew things would be different in her new home but she couldn't imagine everything that awaited her. The first surprise was Snowbird, the beautiful, almost magical, silver foal born the day Willie arrived and destined to be her own. The second surprise was Aunt Belle, a woman brimming over with dreams even bigger then Willie's and with the strength to stick with them no matter what. Through Belle and the Snowbird, Willie began to put the pieces of her life back together. But she still had to learn about loving, caring, and living- and she could only learn by letting go of what she treasured most...

Genres: Historical Fiction, Young Adult, Fiction, Animals, Horses, Childrens

136 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1980

About the author

"We are all emigrants from the same country — the land of childhood. What I want to do is write about the journey all of us have taken — or are in the process of taking — from that special place."

Patricia Calvert celebrates her birthday on July 22nd. She grew up in the mountains of Montana, in what was "a magic world for any child, one in which lodgepole pines grew like arrows toward a sky that seemed always blue." Even though Ms. Calvert knew she wanted to be a writer when she was ten, it wasn't until her daughters were grown and had moved away from home and she and her husband moved to Minnesota that she concentrated on her writing.

Among her books, The Snowbird and Yesterday's Daughter have both been named to ALA's Best Books for Young Adults list. Glennis, Before and After received a Christopher Award. Betrayed! (Atheneum) appeared in 2002 and Robert E. Peary: To the Top of the World (Benchmark) in 2001. Most recently, Ms. Calvert has been focusing on nonfiction writing, bringing us biographies of Zebulon Pike and Kit Carson, as well as The Ancient Celts.

Reviews

[Debbie Zapata · Rating 3 out of 5]

All of the print books I have been reading this month feature horses. I blame it on the Caballos Domecq, who were appearing in a neighboring pueblo the first weekend in July for the annual town fiesta. Of course I HAD to go; it is only a two hour walk away. If I were to miss any such show that close to home I would not be able to call myself a true horse lover or a true endurance walker!

Caballos Domecq have been performing for forty years, using pure Andalusian horses as well as the Azteca horse, a cross between the Andalusian and Quarter Horse breeds. The entire production was stunning. Here is a clip from a larger version of the show I saw. I imagine they have to scale everything to the size of the arena. In this case we were in a fairly small bullring, which gave the afternoon an intimate feel. It was an unforgettable experience and more than worth the walk! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxKDR...

But what does all of this have to do with The Snowbird? Nothing except to explain why I have been overdosing on horse books lately. I miss the critters and at the moment reading about them is all I can do. So here we are with a story about Willanna Bannerman, thirteen years old in 1883 and newly orphaned. She is a dreamer and a teller, which means she wants to be a writer and is always making up stories. But she cannot make up a story that will take away the pain of losing her parents or ease the jolt of moving from Tennessee to the Dakota Territory to live with her uncle and his wife Belle.

What happens on the first day they arrive at Home Place will start Willanna on the rocky road to womanhood. A filly is born, a silvery, blue-eyed filly who may or may not be magical. She is christened The Snowbird and is given to Willanna for her very own. Will they grow up easily together, learning not only about the new world around them but how to love and trust? Or is growing up something that Willanna and The Snowbird both will fight against?

I thought the story was good, but there is less focus on the horse/girl relationship than you might think, and I did get a little tired of Willanna herself. She seemed almost too cranky, even for a teenager with her issues. Or maybe she just reminded me too much of myself at that age? I was a terror and I certainly didn't have any of her reasons for being one, either!

[Alicia Anderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book in the 6th or 7th grade, and still remember it clearly 20 years later. I remember sobbing. A lot. And I remember hating the book for making me cry so hard. Perhaps I should reread it as an adult and see what I think of it.

As a girl, I'd have given it 1 star. As an adult, I am tempted to give it five because of the deep, visceral memories it still evokes.

[Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

For the longest time, all I could remember about this book was the white horse and a silver horsehair ring. No title, no author. It was a huge relief to finally find a list of horse stories that let me identify it. Willanna Bannerman, Willie, and her young brother TJ are sent to Dakota Territory to live with their aunt and uncle after the death of their parents in a fire of dubious origins. The day they arrive at the Home Place, a beautiful white foal is born and named the Snowbird as a good omen. But life is hard in Dakota, and Willie must learn to accept losses, from her beloved teacher to an immigrant boy who weds another. Then Willie must make the hardest decision of her life. Her aunt's baby is coming before her time, and the only way to save them is to ride the beautiful white Snowbird for help, a trip too much for a young horse.

[Rena Sherwood · Rating 1 out of 5]

I once met the author Nancy Springer at a book signing. She mentioned how much she liked this book. I argued that you can't understand a damn thing of what happens in this. Nancy replied, "But it's so beautifully written!"

Again, my argument is this -- if it doesn't make sense, then screw it. What happens at the end? What happens to the horse called The Snowbird? Your guess is good as anyone's.

But yes, it is beautifully written. But if I want to read something beautifully written that doesn't make sense, I'll take James Joyce. I want a bit of understandability in a kid's horse book.

[Tania · Rating 5 out of 5]

Willie and her brother TJ are shipped off west after their parents die in a suspicious accident. Moving from Tennessee to the Dakota Territory is a frightening experience for these two. When they arrive at their uncle's house, they must slowly begin the business of healing. Willie finds it easier to do by way of her uncle's trusted farmhand, July, and a brand new foal, Snowbird. TJ clings to his fiery aunt instead. The children haven't yet seen their fill of sorrow, though, and through it all they must find a way to survive with their hearts and minds in tact.

We experience the brutal truth of poverty and loneliness in the late 1800's for two orphans, and for their struggling relatives. But growing in spite of itself is hope - Willie is a dreamer, as were her parents, and we see July nurture that spirit in her as well. Through the ups and downs of life in what would later be North Dakota, hope lives on. Willie just has to learn to cling to it as hard as she does her grudges.

[Stephanie A. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Way less of a horse book than a regular historical novel about an orphan girl and her brother being taken in by relatives on a hardscrabble patch of farm in the Dakota Territory, where occasionally they visit with/train the white filly who was born of a supposedly barren mare the night of their arrival. And who brings them absolutely zero luck, at least in the course of this novel, contrary to what Belle Bannerman is sure her arrival portends. I knew how this book was going to end before I read it, but Belle snookered me into loving her warmth and vivacity anyway, which only made it worse. Long story short, it's well written, but everything about this book is a giant bummer.

Yet, I suppose I'll keep my Goodwill copy, because it's cool that it's personally inscribed by the author to someone named Susan, who clearly did not read it with sufficient "pleasure and occasional surprise."

[Bonnie · Rating 2 out of 5]

The cover brought back memories when I spotted this book in a used bookstore and I had to get it. I remembered only the silver-white horse and an ending that made me mad. Still did. Willanna (Willie) and her brother, orphaned by their parents' death in a fire, move to Dakota Territory to live with their father's brother and his wild Irish wife Belle. The white filly known as the Snowbird is born the day they arrive. The story doesn't really have a lot to do with the horse (or I missed some deep theme I was supposed to get from the book). The ending is a bit heartbreaking. A quick read that wasn't a huge disappointment but didn't make me want to keep the book as a childhood memory.

[Rabbit · Rating 1 out of 5]

Disappointing. Looked like a beautiful book and I paid a lot for it at the time. Not worth it. A mystical piece of crap. Both kids have a crush on their flake off aunt, who disappears on them. The horse just runs off. "If you love something, set it free..." Not true. I know several people whose pets got lost and nearly died in the wild because they were lost, not because they wanted to be free. A pointless fantasy book without much action, a lesson, or a moral. The Black Stallion series, Black Beauty, anything by Marguerite Henry... these are all way better and more memorable than this flaky piece of junk. No.

[April Helms · Rating 3 out of 5]

I remember reading this during my years when I read anything to do with horses. I remember liking this book, but thought it was rather grim, even tragic.

[Ana · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. My mistake going into this book was assuming it was about a horse. But I was happily proved wrong when it turned out it was a story about hopes and dreams and just how fragile they are when the world is harsh and cruel. A unique take on a coming of age tale made vivid with Calvert's original and colorful writing, the characters and landscape tangible.

[Gale · Rating 3 out of 5]

GROWING UP TO BE ACCOUNTABLE

Despite its young protagonist this book is not your typical YA fare. The dark, brooding plot unfolds with tragic relentlessness in the harsh setting of the Dakota Territory of the mid 1880's. Thirteen-year-old Willanna Bannerman (Willie) and her 9-year-old brother, TJ, must leave their Tennessee home to travel by train to their only kin--an uncle--after a disastrous fire in which both their parents died. Haunted by fury that her newspaper editor father was actually murdered because he uncovered a scandal, Willie refuses to accept the public version that it was just a regrettable accident.

Life at House Place with their kind uncle proves vastly different from all that the orpahned siblings have ever known. Untamed Belle, with her questionable past, her red hair and Irish imagination provides loving warmth, yet she is a restless dreamer--woefully unsuited for the cruel realities of frontier life. Hired hand July earns Willie's respect for an older immigrant youth: this Polish-American, so skilled in horse healing, realizes her need to be a Dreamer and a Teller of those dreams. Is headstrong Wilile more like Belle than she cares to admit? Which of the
two females is better suited to rugged life on the northern prairie?

Will their luck change with the birth of Snowbird--the silvery filly--which is guiconsidred by international folklore as a harbinger of good luck? Willie comes of age during the course of this short novel, as a result of a series of tragedies--which make this story much more serious than middle school readers normally digest. How to come to terms with her violent past, as well as carve out her own path for the future? The world will always need people who Dream--as well as those who can share those dreams. A serious read with an equine inspiration.

(April 12, 2011. I welcome dialogue with teachers.)

[Megan Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed it. I'm not much for horse books (or any animal books, really), but this one didn't seem so much about the horse as about the main character trying to cope with being unusual and a bit of a paradox--at the same time practical and a dreamer, living in that space between woman and child. The prose is very poetic, as well, with a rhythm that just keeps you reading on, slow as it might be. A good book, overall.

4/5 here, 8/10 for myself

[Rhoda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unfortunately, this book is one that is hardly mentioned - if ever at all. The language is rich and Willana is a character with spunk, grit, and a mouth as sharp as a razor. For those expecting perfect characters and an ending sealed with wrapping paper and a bow, look elsewhere. This historical fiction is more true to life, and the ending is sweet and bitter all at once. If you can find it, I recommend the read.

[Michelle Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been searching for this book for years, since I read it as a girl. Couldn't remember the title, author, etc., but I could remember the whole story as if I read it yesterday. This brooding tale was not my typical read and this book changed forever the variety of books I would choose.

That I can remember it this many years later (more than I care to admit!), not only speaks to it's unique nature, but also the authors skill.

[The Hofs · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quick. This book reminded me of Seredy's 'The Good Master' and Caddy Woodlawn with a bit of Little House on the Prairie thrown in. I picked it up second hand and enjoyed it but it was a bit depressing even though it is probably realistic. If you have it, read it but my advice is to not rush out and buy it.

[Heather Poinsett Dunbar · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this during my horse years. It was different than most of the happily ever after fare that passes for YA/MG fic these days. It made me tear up, I do remember that. It's a great story too, well-researched and well-written.

[Nico Harlakenden · Rating 3 out of 5]

super cute.

[Arielle Pierce · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read as a child, incredibly heart breaking story.

[Amy Bronstein · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have had this book since it came out in 1982. I finally read it and I am glad I did, I just wish I had read it 39 years ago. I enjoyed it as an adult and know I would have as a young teenager.

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the best girl and horse books ever written. A nice book for any horse crazy girl.