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Pony
By Mary Eisenhart,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Old-school Western meets ghost story in heart-filled quest.
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What you will—and won't—find in this book.
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Community Reviews
Based on 2 parent reviews
Thought provoking, tear jerking, challenging...
Great adventure story!
What's the Story?
PONY is a mysterious horse with a white face and blue eyes, who turns up the night 12-year-old Silas' father is abducted by outlaws, and soon proves a life-changing companion. It's 1860 in the Old West, and the man who's been a loving parent to the boy and filled his head with science and the classics seems to have an unknown but dark past catching up with him. The outlaws and their captive have vanished into forbidding, haunted woods, and his father has ordered him to stay home, but Silas is determined to overcome his own terrors and save his dad. He's never ridden a horse before, but he and Pony are soon headed down a terrifying path, accompanied by Mittenwool, Silas' lifelong companion, who's a ghost. Some characters, living and dead, will come to his assistance. Others will try to kill him.
Is It Any Good?
R.J. Palacio crafts a timeless hero's-journey tale of the Wild West with a tween boy, his best friend (a ghost), and the mysterious horse who carries him on a perilous quest for his abducted dad. With frequent references and parallels to The Odyssey, Pony's young hero often thinks of Odysseus' son Telemachus and that boy's quest to find his own father, and reflects on science and the classics while encountering deadly perils from wild rivers, steep cliffs, and murderous outlaws. There's gunplay, gore, and ghosts, and lots of heart and kindness from characters living and dead in this fresh take on a classic theme, enriched by the antique photographs that inspired the story and characters.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the Old West setting of Pony. Why do you think people continue to find that time and place so interesting and keep revisiting it? Do you think Pony would work as a story if it were in another time and place?
In the past, two American characters in Pony fought on the side of Mexico against the United States because they hoped Mexico would follow French law, which decriminalized homosexuality. Is there any cause or issue that's so important for you that you would, if necessary, fight your own country for it?
Some characters in Pony don't think counterfeit money is an ethical problem -- it just means more money for everyone. What do you think about that argument?
Book Details
- Author: R.J. Palacio
- Genre: Coming of Age
- Topics: Adventures , Great Boy Role Models , History , Horses and Farm Animals
- Book type: Fiction
- Publisher: Knopf
- Publication date: September 28, 2021
- Publisher's recommended age(s): 10 - 18
- Number of pages: 304
- Available on: Nook, Audiobook (unabridged), Hardback, iBooks, Kindle
- Last updated: October 1, 2021
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