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Karolyne, February 1, 2013 (view all comments by Karolyne)
From the first pages, I was immersed in a period of Americana when survival meant self-reliance. It is almost unimaginable today that a 15 year-old would ever ride alone 500 miles on horseback to get a job, or that any 15 year-old could get a job teaching. Her lack of credentials was more than made up for by her positive values, determination and hard work. Based on the author's grandmother's adventures, the characters and scenes will live on for all those who make time for this fast-paced novel.
Meribeth, January 30, 2013 (view all comments by Meribeth)
Beautifully written book that transports you to a different life. Especially interesting if you've read The Glass Castle.
Audree, January 26, 2013 (view all comments by Audree)
Loved the way the story was told. Do we have young women growing up today who have as much courage and energy? I hope so.
Mashell, January 1, 2013 (view all comments by Mashell)
An amazing story of life in the early 1900's. A very strong woman who lived her life to the fullest and enjoyed it.
Molly H, January 1, 2013 (view all comments by Molly H)
This story is written by the main character's real-life granddaughter. It ranges from the humorous to the horrific, all well told and difficult to put down.
Half Broke Horses: A True-Life Novel
Used Trade Paper
Jeannette Walls
0 stars -
0 reviews
$5.50
In Stock
Product details
288 pages
Scribner Book Company -
English9781416586296
Reviews:
"Staff Pick"
by Kelly L.,
Lily Casey Smith is a woman who won't take no for an answer if there's any way around it. She embarks on journeys and has experiences that only someone with iron-willed character could survive: As a child, she gets her young siblings up a cottonwood tree just before a flash flood thunders through, and keeps them clinging through the night till the waters recede; at age 15, she travels alone, on a pony, from her home in New Mexico to a teaching job in Arizona; and she moves to Chicago as a young woman without even a high school diploma. Half Broke Horses gives us Lily's life as a series of vignettes. This is old-fashioned storytelling, and reading it feels very much like sitting at a grandparent's knee. What is missing in terms of a psychological portrait of the character is made up for by the astonishing life of this spunky, independent, resourceful woman. Lily flourishes, living life on her own terms. She's a delight.
by Kelly L.
"Review"
by The Cleveland Plain Dealer,
"Jeannette Walls...once again proves that the combination of gifted storyteller with great stories is both rare and intoxicating."
"Review"
by People,
"[An] eloquent tribute to a pragmatic heroine....A powerhouse — fast-moving, fearless and impossible to forget."
"Review"
by New York Times Book Review,
[Jeannette Walls is] the third generation of a line of indomitable women whose paths she has inscribed on the permanent record, enriching the common legend of our American past."
"Synopsis"
by Ingram,
Walls reimagines the life of her grandmother, Lily Casey, who by age six was helping her father break horses. At 15, she left home to teach in a frontier town--riding 500 miles on her pony to get to her post. She learned to drive a car, fly a plane, and with her husband, managed a vast ranch in Arizona, surviving tornadoes, droughts, floods, and the Great Depression.
"Synopsis"
by Ingram,
From the author of The Glass Castle, a spellbinding true-life novel about Walls' grandmother — horse trainer, teacher, flapper, rancher, and pilot.
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