All that's missing are people wearing wacky hats and placing bets.

Printz Honor for best book written for teens. It's the Kentucky Derby-meets- Hunger Gamesof young adult novels, and it received tons of glowing reviews and a Michael L. Maggie Stiefvater saw this heinous literary oversight and filled it full of scary carnivorous horses with her 2011 novel The Scorpio Races. Hey, Cujo did it for dogs-horse lit has to compete. But do you know what those works are missing? Horses that eat people. There's a long line of books about people and their equine companions- Black Beauty, Misty of Chincoteague, War Horse-and there are so many movies about horses too- Secretariat, Seabiscuit, that War Horse again-that we might as well put dogs out to pasture.Īll of these books and movies put the beauty, power, and intelligence of horses on display and make us think they're just as human as we are. ***I purchased and read this book for my own enjoyment.Dogs might be called man's best friend, but they're in close competition with horses. With its beautifully developed characters, atmospheric setting, and high stakes race, this book is sure to keep readers engaged until the very last page.

Overall, The Scorpio Races is a must-read for fans of YA novels who are looking for something a little different. It’s clear that Stiefvater has put a lot of thought into the mythology and world-building of Thisby, and these elements only add to the book’s sense of danger and adventure. The danger and suspense of the race itself gives the book a sense of urgency that will keep readers on the edge of their seats. The two characters have a lot in common, despite their vastly different backgrounds, and their connection is a strong point of the novel. The characters in the book feel well-developed, and the relationship that develops between Sean and Puck is intriguing to follow. It's equally gratifying to see a more unusual mythical creature used over the more typical werewolves, gryphons, merfolk, and the like. Stiefvater’s lyrical writing style is a perfect fit for this kind of story, and she paints the island of Thisby so vividly that readers will feel like they can see, hear and smell every part of it. The Scorpio Races is beautifully written. The story is narrated by two protagonists, Sean Kendrick and Puck Connolly, both of whom are determined to win the race for different reasons. Maggie Stiefvater’s The Scorpio Races is a unique YA take on the Gaelic mythology of the water horse, about a dangerous race that takes place on the island of Thisby every November.

The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater