Paint the Wind

by Pam Muñoz Ryan

A sheltered girl. A wild horse. An unforgettable journey. Paint the Wind joins the Scholastic Gold line, which features award-winning and beloved novels. Includes exclusive bonus content!Maya lives like a captive. At Grandmother's house in California, everything is forbidden: friends, fun, even memories. And her life is built on lies: lies Grandmother tells her about her dead mother, lies Maya tells to impress or manipulate. But then she moves to the vast Wyoming wilderness where her mother's family awaits -- kind, rugged people who have no tolerance for lies. They challenge Maya to confront the truth about who she is. And a mysterious mustang called Artemisia waits, too. She holds the key to Maya's freedom. But to find it, Maya will have to risk everything, including her life.

Genres: Horses, Fiction, Animals, Middle Grade, Realistic Fiction, Young Adult, Adventure

352 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

Pam Muñoz Ryan is the author of the New York Times Best Seller, ECHO, a 2016 Newbery Honor Book, and winner of the Kirkus Prize. She has written over forty books for young people—picture books, early readers, and middle grade and young adult novels. She the author recipient of the NEA's Human and Civil Rights Award, the Virginia Hamilton Literary Award, the Willa Cather Award, the Pura Belpré medal, the PEN USA award, and many others. Her novels include Esperanza Rising, Riding Freedom, Becoming Naomi León, Paint the Wind, The Dreamer, and Echo. She was born and raised in Bakersfield, California, holds a bachelor's and master's degree from San Diego State University and lives in north San Diego county with her family.

Reviews

[No-Name · Rating 5 out of 5]

Little known fact:
My mother was visiting with her father for a week-long horse-back riding trip somewhere out in Nevada once upon a time. Coincidently, Pam (the author of this book) was there at the same time as my mother. She was on a research trip for this very book. The two chatted, exchanged emails, and I suppose it was over there.
Cool as that was, and as much as I fan-girled at the the prospect that my mother had met such a wonderful author, it saddens me to say something. The publicity of this book is not what it should be. I would not have found this book had my mother not had that experience and brought home a signed copy of the finished book one day.
Don't get me wrong, I am glad that I did! Every day I get to thinking "I should really re-read that book" and then that other voice, the one with little horns and a red cape shows up and is all like "You have 20 other books that you 'should really re-read again' don't even start adding to that already extensive list!" Then the one with the tiny white wings sighs and doesn't mention it again for...like...8 hours.
Needless to say this is a unique and really fun book to read. It is very immersing and you have to read it to find out the rest! Congrats to Pam, and I hope to see this book skyrocket a little more in popularity!

[Ash · Rating 5 out of 5]

I may be a fanatic but i have read this book about eight times. I read it whenever i have nothing else to read and i enjoy it every time!
It starts with Maya, living under her grandmother's controlling care, and always dreaming about seeing the horses her parents loved so much. To her they were all a mystery. One day though her grandmother has a random stroke and dies, leaving Maya with no where to go but her mother's family, who she was supposed to visit every summer. She has a hard time adapting at first, but quickly enough she is happy at the camp her mother and father spent so much time at before. Then when she is alone for a while she spots Artemisia, the horse her mother once rode. She decides to go and get her, thinking it would be quick, but just as she reaches Artemisia a horrible earthquake happens. Maya is injured and overtime gains Artemisia's trust enough so that together they make it safely back to camp.
It is a very great story about leaving what you know for something completely different, and maybe even better. By sitting and waiting at her controlling grandmothers house for too long, she is finally Maya: A journey about to begin!

[Charlotte · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is definitely in my top 10 books. I wasn't sure about reading this because it had to do with fantasy and horses and I just wasn't up to trying to believe in Pegasus horses that live by a magical lake. Then I started to get into it and I really liked it. The beginning is pretty good, and I like the way her grandmother makes her dress and talk and eat. I think that it would be kind of cool to see what that type of life is like. When Payton loses her favorite horse Paint {I think that's it's name}, I felt like I could cry and I would've told and Aunt Vi what he had done. I liked Payton and Moose because they remind me of my grandfather and my brother. After I finished it, I had a longing to go and see all of my grandfathers {4} of them. I like the way that Pam Munoz Ryan did a really good job of developing the character of the main character. My favorite part was the Artimesia stays by her side and protects her until she is strong enough to ride on her. This book was extremely good..

[Hannah · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book......oh my..... lets do some comparison.


Pros:
Only horse-based novel that doesn't follow suit with saddle club
Good plot and story line
Realistic story-line and characters and facts
The focus of the novel stayed the same the entire book
There were relatable characters

Cons:
I hated the main character
I hated the main character
I hated the main character
I hated the main character
I hated the main character
I hated the main character
I hated the main character
I hated the main character
I hated the main character
I hated the main character
I hated the main character
I hated the main character
I hated the main character
I hated the main character
I hated the main character
I hated the main character
I hated the main character
I hated the main character
I hated the main character
I hated the main character
I hated the main character
I hated the main character


And heres why: she was a snobby, obnoxious, ungrateful, disrespectful, careless, lackluster, dishonest little brat. and every time she appeared(which was a lot -__-) in the novel was one time to many, so therefore she caused the book to loose 2 stars. If you think you have the patients for her, knock yourself out.

[Sandra Deaconu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eram sigură că autoarea nu mă va dezamăgi nici de data asta și nu a făcut-o. Mi-au plăcut foarte mult evoluția fetei, toate detaliile și poveștile despre cai, atmosfera de la fermă și senzația de libertate pe care ți-o dă acel mediu, dar cel mai mult mi-a plăcut noua ei familie. Sunt niște oameni atât de calzi și de ușor de îndrăgit încât m-au făcut să vreau să îi cunosc și eu. Este evident că recomand romanele ei, la orice vârstă, în special Trandafirii din Mexic, dar și acesta a reușit să transmită un mesaj emoționant și să mă încânte. Recenzia aici: https://sandradeaconu.blogspot.com/20....

,,Stelele răsar, una câte una. Calea Lactee apare ca o pată - o fâșie gigantică străbătând cerul. Este liniștită și reconfortantă. Și, în același timp, te plesnește ca un șuvoi de apă rece peste față. În comparație cu ea, sunt nimic.'' (pag. 201)

[Jenna Marie ~Scheming Scribbler~ · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was pretty meh. I loved the beginning, it had "The Secret Garden" vibes, which I appreciated. I liked it when she went to see her other family, but it was a bit unrealistic how quickly she became accustomed to the completely different lifestyle. The feud with her cousin seemed a little beside the point, but I didn't mind it. Then it went downhill; the moment her aunt left and told her to promise to stay put, it was pretty obvious she was going to break that promise. The whole week out in the wild seemed very unnecessary and ridiculous, and completely off league with the rest of the book. The ending was pretty good, not great but not bad.

Now, I do have to say, the book was written well and read easily! The plot just seemed a little strange and didn't flow well. I don't regret reading it and is a decent book for a young girl who likes horses, but I don't think I will read it again. In conclusion, meh! ;)

[Beth A. · Rating 3 out of 5]

My son is reading this as part of "Battle of the Books." I wanted to screen it because of the "being held captive by her grandmother" bit mentioned in the book description. So I found an audiobook version on Library2go, and listened. It was fine. Grandmother was pathologically restrictive, but it wasn't gruesome in any way, or critical of authority figures.

I actually loved how her grandfather and his family were portrayed. And her response to changes in her life. It showed the effects of how she was raised, and she was able to grow within her new situation.

It's about overcoming your fears, being strong when you have to, and building relationships. I liked how Artemisia helped her, and at the end, even though it was a difficult decision, she helped Artemisia.

Overall, it was a very enjoyable story.

[Brittany McCann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow, this was heavy from the beginning, especially for the younger audience. Perhaps that's why it is not as well known.

The book opens by discussing Artemisia, the horse's miscarriage of a previous foul, in some detail before discussing her new fear. Calling the rest of the herd's horses a harem is a strange way to describe this for a middle-grade group.

Maya has lost both of her parents and lives with her grandmother, who blames May's mother's love of horses for the death of Maya's father. All photos of the mother are cut or removed from the home. A new housecleaner is out to get Maya in trouble in order to stay in the grandmother's good graces.

While this book has a lot of beauty, it would have found a likelier audience in the Young Adult crowd that was more likely to cope with such a plethora of trauma in a single novel.

3.5 Stars rounded up to 4.

[Gritcan Elena · Rating 5 out of 5]

Vaaai cât de mult M-a emoționat cartea. Chiar aveam nevoie de o doza buna de plâns, merci cărții pentru pasajele emoționante

[Rena Sherwood · Rating 1 out of 5]

Oh my GAWD this book was bad. Where to even start? Nothing for it but to make a list of why Paint the Wind sucks:

* WHAT THE HELL DOES "PAINT THE WIND" MEAN???

* Does the author know anything about horses? The main horse is given a name more than three syllables long. Horses (and dogs) tend to ignore names more than two syllables long.

* One horse's body color is described as "flaxen." What the hell? I've never heard of a horse's body color described that way (although I've seen mane and tail colors described that way) and have never read about a flaxen horse or pony in the hundreds of horse books I've read. I need to read more horse books, I guess. I'm guessing the author really meant this:



* Is this the longest summer in the history of summers? At one point, a search is on for "several weeks" which would make it about October when the story picks up again. But no, actually, we're in July. Or are we? Do the characters have some sort of time machine they're not talking about?

* How in the hell does anyone make money in this book? Grandmother is just filthy rich but how about the other adults? Aunt Vi is a a teacher but what the heck is she doing during the summer to make enough money to study mustangs AND own a corral full of horses.

* If you live in a canvass tent, the LAST think you want to do is pin photos to the walls. Pins make holes. Holes let in rain. It rains on our characters in their tents -- which should be all washed away because of the HOLES IN IT. All of the photos should have been destroyed from contact with wet canvass. Even in the desert, there's going to be condensation on the inside of a tent.

* There's something called a Cherokee coil that becomes a major plot point. It's not described well so I couldn't picture it in my head. Even if I could, I highly doubt actually Cherokees rode that way.

* There's an incredibly fawning interview with the author after the story and an excerpt from the author's journal. She really has no problem with low self-esteem. In a selection of the author's favorite quotes, SHE LISTS ONE OF HER OWN QUOTES. It just makes you want to punch her in the face. Hard.

[Kloe! Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Plot: Maya is an 11 year old girl who lives secluded from the outside world. Shielded by her grandmother who keeps getting new housemaids. When her grandmother suddenly dies, Maya goes to stay with her only known relatives. Moose, Uncle Fig, Aunt Vi, and Payton are waiting all the way in Wyoming for her. Sweetwater camp is run by Vi. There's horses and a lovely river that flows near the camp. In her first days at camp, Maya learns to tack and ride a horse properly. Things change for the worst when there's a roundup for the wild horses, and an eathquake.

Personal Response: I've read this book twice before, each time I get a little more detail on certain things. The characters are very well developed and the horses point of view is perfectly choreographed.

Recommendation: I recommend this for all ages. All readers will be glad to have read this, and it is fairly short.

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a retired elementary teacher but still substitute teach. Apparently 40 years wasn't enough teaching time for me. On one of my substitute days the teacher had this book in her plans for the read aloud time, and I read chapter 9 to the students. That chapter enticed me to want to read the whole book. I know it is a children's book and I am quite far into adulthood, but I thoroughly enjoyed the characters, the writing, and the two story lines of the plot. Granted, it doesn't quite have the depth of books that I give five stars, but I recommend it for children as well as adults. I valued every minute that I was immersed in this book!

[Kavya · Rating 5 out of 5]

REEEEEEEEEEEEEEALLY GUD BOOK KIND OF DIGUSTING AT FIRST but then u get so in to it its not even funny

[Karin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maya has spent the last six years with her overbearing, controlling grandmother since her parents' death. She is forbidden to speak of her mother or to play, have fun, etc. When her grandmother dies, she is sent to live with the other side of her family, who she has been told are ignorant hillbillies.

This is a book about a girl and horses, including how she learns to ride. This is a great book for girls (and the rare boy who will read a book with a girl protaganist) who loves to read horse books. In addition to all of the things about horses, there is reconciliation, healing, etc

[MaryCait Dolan · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5
Pam Muñoz Ryan is such a fun author to reread. I loved her books' heroines when I was little, and it's just as fun to revisit them (and to also revert to my horse girl origins)

[Nancy Ovchinnikov · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was pretty decent, and got better as the story progressed, but it’s probably my least favorite of Ryan’s books I’ve read so far. I grew to like Maya more as she grew up and matured throughout the book, but I feel like I would want my own kids to wait to read this until they’re older because of the lying and disobedience aspect of the story, along with the mature themes and death.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book Paint the Wind by Pam Muñoz Ryan was published in September of 2007. It is a fiction book that was inspired by the author’s sister and experiences her sister had that relate to the book. In this book the categories are split between a story about an orphan and a horse and how their story comes together as one. Ryan’s inspiration in writing this story and other stories comes from person experiences, experiences she has observed and multiple ideas that she has thought of and brought together to make one great story. Paint the Wind is not the first book Ryan wrote, and she has other books that have some of the same ideas in it but none the same as this particular book. In Paint the Wind Maya is an eleven year old girl who became an orphan at age five when her parents died in a car accident. Maya lives with her grandmother who has very high expectations and her own way of living. When something unexpected happens Maya finds herself in a new place with new people and a completely different lifestyle. Maya slowly loosens up and finds a side of her that she never knew she had. The author also switches off between the story of Maya and the story in the view of a horse named Artemisia, where later in the book their separate stories connect and combine into one. The way the author switches between stories reminds me of a book I previously read called Dream of Night by Heather Henson, who switches stories between a foster child and a horse. I also liked that the author of Paint the Wind separated the book into sections that related to the book in a way that showed the progress of the characters. Throughout the book the reader is able to know Maya better and watch her grow and change into a new person. This book didn’t have a huge affect on me; it more gave me an opportunity to see a how a character changes over time through a great story, as well as show me that taking little steps at a time to get where you want to be can be very successful. I was never bored while reading this book; I thought it was very well written and good at keeping my attention. A lot of the action was in the second half of the book, which is when it was most suspenseful from a series of events that took place. I really liked the character Maya because she has a good heart and good personality, is strong willed, has good dedication and I got to know her most throughout the book. She is a unique character and was very interesting to see how she changed from the beginning to the ending of the book. Overall I really enjoyed reading this book. The point the author wanted to get across was just showing how someone changes over time, but in a realistic way taking one step at a time until you get to where you want to be. The author was successful in showing this through the character Maya by going through her story and her steps to her new life. I would recommend this story to animal lovers, or to anyone who enjoys a good story, with a good, realistic lesson.

[Oana Crâmpeie de suflet · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pictează vântul este o poveste extraordinar de sensibilă și de emoționantă, care îți stârnește multe lacrimi pe tot parcursul citirii ei. Pasajele despre copii și despre animale au darul de a te face să trăiești acțiunea unei cărți la un alt nivel, iar acest roman aduce în prim-plan atât povestea unei fetițe, cu care soarta nu a fost foarte generoasă încă de la început, căci a fost crescută de o bunică ce și-a pierdut rațiunea de a fi odată cu pierderea fiului, și nu are amintiri sau dreptul la a avea unele cu mama ei, moartă acum, cât și cea a unei mame ce trebuie să își salveze mânzul abia născut, care învață să supraviețuiască liberă, în sălbăticie, unde conduce o întreagă herghelie. Este o carte de neuitat, cu personaje unice, originale, de care te îndrăgostești, și cu o atmosferă deosebit de caldă creată de regăsirea familiei pierdute fără voie și de plasarea acțiunii în sălbaticul Wyoming, unde te transpui cu totul și înveți să trăiești totul la intensitate maximă, bucurându-te de minimalism într-un ranch aflat în mijlocul a niciunde.
https://crampeiedesufletblog.wordpres...

[Lars Guthrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Now I've read and own the complete Munoz Ryan chapter-book collection. While 'Paint the Wind' ranks slightly below the stellar 'Esperanza Rising,' it's right up there with the others: the recent 'The Dreamer,' 'Becoming Naomi Leon,' and 'Riding Freedom.'

'Paint' is ostensibly a horse story, about an isolated and lonely orphaned girl who opens up to the world after riding the same wild mustang her mother loved. However, Maya's prim and repressed personality is formed during a cloistered upbringing with her stodgy and domineering grandmother, and it is this part of the book that was most evocative.

Darker in tone than any of Munoz Ryan's other works except 'The Dreamer,' the first fifth or so of 'Paint' is also concretely redolent of a unique Southern California darkness--the darkness inside shaded, sepulchral houses hidden from the glaring sunshine. Maya's interior life and her instinctive manipulation of a predictable grandmother and cowering servants were touching and true.

That's not to indicate that the more hopeful and upbeat remainder of the book, when Maya moves from the shadows of Pasadena to the wide-open spaces of Wyoming, is devoid of emotional power. Far from it, especially for kids who love horses.

[Kathleen Guinnane · Rating 4 out of 5]

I must say that I really hated the grandma in this story. The way this story is written you truly feel for the characters, both horses and human. It's a story of discovery, discovery of self and of family. Maya has lived with her strict grandmother since her parents died and when grandmother dies she is reunited with her mother's side of her family. She only has vague memories of these relatives and has never been on a horse before, but here she is at the ranch and horse camp in Wyoming. Learning to ride and learning her new role in the family takes a lot out of her. She also has to deal with her obnoxious cousin who is not happy to have her at the camp.

[Lacy Arnett Mayberry · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Audible narrator might have underscored everything I disliked about this book. The plot felt cliche and the writing was overwrought and obnoxious--like the author had unnaturally plucked most of her wording from a thesaurus. But my daughters liked it. They're very into horses and overwrought plot points, so in this way, the book is a success, I guess?

[Noa Leibson · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best book iv ever read. Yes, I read it an unmistakeable 11 times!

[Megan Helmer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great author, great adventure story. There was light messaging about wild horses in the story. I put aside my own beliefs and skimmed over that part. Great for middle grade readers, especially a kid who loves the stories like Black Beauty and Misty of.

[CATalina ⭐ · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐⭐⭐⭐

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful story.... wonderful characters!

[Andreea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolut minunată, varianta pentru copii a ,,Femei care aleargă cu lupii" imo

[Amandine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dès les premières pages, j'avais une impression de déjà vu. En fait, j'ai déjà lu ce livre il y a un bon moment mais la couverture et la description ne me disait rien. Donc, du coup, ça a été plus une relecture qu'une découverte. J'ai bien aimé cette petite histoire, à part l'héroïne qui m'a un peu gonflé avec ses mensonges abusifs. Je ne me souvenais plus de la fin, donc c'étais sympa de relire ce livre.

[Megan Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Honestly, I loved this book. It wasn't perfect, and it didn't have clear, strong story goals. But it was sweet and lovely and honest. Maya learns a lot. Payton learns a lot. Everyone loves and lives a lot. My favorite line: "Maya smiled and wept at the same time. For the leaving. And the leaving behind."
Almost rated this three stars, but for what it is (kidfic) it is really strong. Would be a wonderful story to read aloud.

[Pat · Rating 2 out of 5]

Story of a girl's search for comfort, and how she connects with a wild horse during a crisis. Good book to use for character study, as the main character Maya goes through many life changes

Although the writing is beautiful and has rich language, the story line was a little too far-fetched to believe.

[Delaney · Rating 5 out of 5]

i thought the book paint the wind by Pam Munoz Ryan was a really good book. i like the book because it is about horses and the author has been with wild horses. She rode for eight days in southwestern Wyoming she slept in a teepee on the banks of the sweet water river