This Day in History May 17, 1875

Slightly happy note for today's feature.  It was on this date in 1875 that the horse pictured above (Aristides) won the first Kentucky Derby.  This horse was named after the Greek general of the same name, and Oliver Lewis (African American) was his rider on that date. Ten thousand people were in attendance, and there were fifteen horses in that first race.  Thirteen of the horses were ridden by African American jockeys.  Aristides was not supposed to win--he was supposed to help another horse win.  But the unexpected often happens in races, as we well know.  Aristides dies on June 21, 1893 and was honored by a statue in Churchill Downs in 1988.

For more information, check out:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aristides_(horse)
http://www.americaslibrary.gov/jb/recon/jb_recon_derby_1.html

Backyard Horse Tales by Jackie Anton Book Review

My daughter and I have finally finished this book.  It was thoroughly enjoyable, and I will be posting our review here.  If you would like more information on the blog tour, check out my post from earlier in the week.


Backyard Horse Tales, 2nd edition by Jackie Anton
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

My 8-year-old daughter and I read this book together, and she contributed to a good share of this review.  We both agreed that this book was fantastic and deserved a 5-star rating.

My daughter loved the fact that the author used correct horse terms.  She doesn't know a lot about horses, but she has had a chance to work with them here and there.  She enjoyed the story and retained the details of the story even when I got confused.  She would highly recommend this book to kids her age and even beyond.  She enjoyed the fact that the point of view went back and forth between horse and human.

My thoughts, as a parent, was that it was an engaging, well-researched story.  I would compare it to "Black Beauty" in that most of the story was told from the point of view of the horse, Sox.  It is an easy-to-read book, and there is a lot of helpful information in the back of the book.  It is the perfect book for a parent to read out loud to his/her child, and I think that it would appeal to children of all ages.  I also appreciated the fact that the author dealt briefly with issues of military parents and single parents.

I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.  I was not financially compensated for this review, and all opinions are 100 percent mine.


View all my reviews

Lightning Book Promotions Blog Tour: Backyard Horse Tales: Sox by Jackie Anton Author Interview

About the Book:

Born with a brave heart and an in your face attitude, Sox was also born with a leg that was not quite right. His courage and complete disregard for his handicap inspire his little friend Emma. Young Emma Struggles with a learning disability. This lonely child befriends Sox and an unbreakable bond is formed. Readers share in Sox’s adventures, his friends, and his challenges. Sox is a heart-warming tale for every child who has ever dreamed of a special horse, and for anyone who has loved an equine partner.

Order your copy here: amazon.com

barnesandnoble.com

Authors links:

http://www.backyardhorsetales.com/

http://jackieanton.wordpress.com/

https://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=214923525205479#!/pages/Backyard-Horse-Tales/190283981002767

https://twitter.com/#!/backyardhorse

About the author:

Jackie Anton writes a family friendly series “Backyard Horse Tales.” (readers 8 to adult) Sox 2nd Edition expands Sox and Emma’s story, and has a brand new ending. This version is enjoying excellent early reviews. Purchase atwww.backyardhorsetales.com #2 “Frosty and the Nightstalker” will be out by fall of 2012. “Prelude: Backyard Horse Tales 3 Don’t Call Me Love is an E-Book available on smashwords.com and amazon.com. Romance books are written under the pen name J.M.Anton. “Fateful Waters” will be an E-Book in April, and in print by late summer 2012.

Interview with Jackie Anton

Author of

Backyard Horse Tales: Sox 2^nd Edition

From my 8-year-old daughter:

What other books have you written?

        Backyard Horse Tales / Sox the original version was published February of 2011, and written for my grandchildren then ages 7 and 9. It sold well among horsemen of all ages. I expanded the story and added a new ending. The result is “Sox 2^nd Edition” released March 21, 2012 which is the focus of this book blog tour. 

        A preview of “Backyard Horse Tales 3 Don’t Call Me Love” is an e-book on Smashwords.com. Here is my link http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/jackieanton if you have and e-reader or computer access click on the title of the book and when you get to checkout put in the coupon code VR39R. This is a special thank you for your great questions and you can share it with those who visit this blog.

What was your favorite subject in school?

        My very favorite subject in school was art, followed closely by English once we began reading classics, writing book reports, and writing short stories.

When you were a kid, what was your favorite TV show?

        You won’t remember most of these but I loved Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, and a lot of the other westerns of the time. Of course the reason that I watched were their famous horses Roy’s Trigger, Gene’s Champion, and the Lone Ranger’s Silver. My other favorite was Star Treck.

What is your favorite food?

        I love really good spaghetti.

Did you like vegetables when you were a kid? And did your taste buds change when you got older?

        When we were children our family was very poor, and vegetables as well as fresh fruit were rare treats. As a child, I liked most veggies with the exception of green beans, spinach, and beets, but now I like them too. Poached or fried eggs are okay with me now. As a child I could not eat eggs unless they were hard boiled or scrambled.

When you were a kid, did you like ketchup, ranch and mustard? I am not a fan of any of those!

        Mustard was always a favorite. Ranch is good for dipping fresh veggies, and I like it for dipping my french-fries better than ketchup.

From Me:

What inspired you to write a book about learning disabilities? I am a teacher, and I often work with students with all sorts of disabilities.

        Sox tale was inspired by the life and antics of my reining horse Two Scooten Sox. He is the foal on the cover of the book.

He was so large when he was born that he had a contracted tendon. Emma was given the learning disability as a result of the experiences of my youngest brother. When we were kids no one knew about dyslexia, and he struggled with the problem his whole life. He is very bright and a hard worker but words on a page still get scrambled up. I tried reading in a mirror just to get some idea of what children go through. My son was very hyper when he was young. He was very fortunate to have understanding teachers kindergarten through second grade. Today everyone would want him put on drugs for attention deficit disorder. He has a PhD, taught at a college level for several years, and is now working with a NASA contractor. All with no drugs!

How many and what kind of animals do you have?

        We have two American Quarter horses that were born here, a yearling Haflinger filly that followed my home from an auction last October. I have a progress report from her perspective on my blog site http://jackieanton.com/ . QT is our calico barn cat, and we adopted a dog last week. Her name is Cali, and she is a six-year-old Black Mouthed Mountain Cur. I had to look that one up on the internet.

Did you ever have a special pet as you were growing up?

        Rip was a rough Collie that we had when I was in junior high that will always have a special place in my heart.

What did you want to be when you were growing up?

        Okay, don’t laugh, but when I was a kid growing up in the city all I wanted to be was a cowboy.

What kind of research did you do for your story?

        Sox’s tale drew pretty much from experience. I did have to do some research for the storm part of the story to make it credible.

        Backyard Horse Tales 2 Frosty and the Nightstalker has a paranormal and historical twist. It took quite a bit of research. The first half of Frosty’s tale is with the editor now and I am working on revisions.

        “BYHT 3 Don’t Call Me Love” is more of a memoir of the exploits of my daughter’s youth horse and her thirty-three years with us.

DEAL ALERT!

There is a special offer posted on Jackie's blogs below her signature. The first five readers to purchase "Backyard Horse Tales: Sox 2nd Edition " will get a free copy of #2 "Frosty and the Nightstalker" when it is published. The free copy will match what is purchased, e-book or print version.

Follow the entire tour here.

Note:  My daughter is almost through with this book.  She is absolutely loving it--definitely 5 star rating.  I will have a review posted by tomorrow night.  I am seeing to it that she finishes it tomorrow.  I considered reviewing it on here myself--I almost finished it myself--but I decided that a review from my daughter would be better.  Thank you for your understanding!

Well-Spoken Wednesday--Blaze of Glory by M. Garzon Book Review

Summary from goodreads:

Last year, I had it all. Two jumpers on the show circuit, a lot of wins, and a lot of attention - the good kind. But now I have nothing. My life is circling the drain. The only spark of light that exists for me is my new, forbidden passion. If my stepfather finds out, he will kill me. My twin brother, my only blood relative in the world, has already begged me not to. If it can't be horses, it has to be this.




Blaze of Glory by M. Garzon
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Let me begin by saying I was concerned that I might not like this book.  The author and I sent messages back and forth, and I thought I would give it a try.  I have not read a lot of YA books, but I was always willing to read something just a little bit different.  I had begun to enjoy horses in the last book I read, and I thought this book may even give me more of an appreciation of these wonderful animals.

From the beginning, I was drawn in to the story.  The author is an excellent writer--I was impressed with her vocabulary, characterization, and wit.  I absolutely loved Tea from the beginning, and my heart cried for her as she had to go through very realistic tragedies.  I always appreciate it when authors put in tragedies, as hard as they are to read.  And there is one towards the beginning of the story that will jolt the reader--it sure did me!

I figured I knew what would happen between Tea and Jaden (no spoilers!), but the story of those two was what made me read more than half of the book in just a few days.  I honestly could not put it down!  And then ending was exactly what it should have been.  In fact, the second half of the book was mesmerizing.  Even if was a romance that would probably be considered sappy by some.  I like a good romance, and this book certainly lived up to that and more.

As far as issues with the book itself, I only have two comments (and neither of them cause me to mark the book down).  The author had warned me about drugs in the book--I felt she handled this well, so no complaints there.  I did find some adult language, but thankfully they were only used sparsely and at times that make sense.  The words could be offensive to some readers, but I have to admit that in context, I did not find them offensive.  The Lord's name was never used in vain--that truly is amazing.  The author had also warned me about the intimate scenes.  Here's my take on that.  There is really only one sex scene, and thankfully, it never gets too detailed.  Tea struggles with her feelings of wanting to have sex, and that is normal.  She is seventeen.  While I wish she had waited until she got married to have sex, a good share of teens are much more promiscuous than she.  We can only hope that Tea is only intimate with this one person and no one else.



View all my reviews

M.Garzon biography (from http://www.mgarzon.ca/bio.html)

m. garzon rode horses professionally for ten years, until an injury prompted a career change. She returned to school and completed a BSc; then, for good measure, an MBA. After several years of toiling as a business consultant, she turned to writing in a desperate bid to regain her sanity. A mom of two fabulous children, she lives in St‑Lazare, QC and is currently working on the sequel to Blaze of Glory.

Buy the book here.

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.