The A Circuit

The A Circuit
Georgina Bloomberg & Catherine Hapka
Bloomsbury, 2011

Competitive, A Circuit horse shows. A high-stakes, high-dollar competitive circle of the horse world. Late-teenage angst and self-discovery, amplified by money (or lack thereof) and opportunity. And horses. A lot of gorgeous horses.

That is definitely not a description of my world, but it is a very real world - and it's the world explored in The A Circuit (which, by the way, is apparently the first in a series! Yes! That means there's more coming!). I've always been a bit of a horse nut - I decided to go into Library Science in kindergarten when my elementary school librarian refused to let me check out Marguerite Henry books because they were chapter books. I have a lot of memories about horse books, and horse dreams. It's never been a world I was able to enter into however, except through the pages I was devouring. And this is definitely a great addition to that collection.

The storytelling is split between three main girls: Tommi (Wall Street money), Zara (celeb daughter), and Kate (working student), allowing readers to get to know each girl on a personal level: their story, their struggles, their reactions and opinions of what's going on - and of each other. Additionally, there's a whole barn of secondary characters, some of whom play pretty key roles. And the horses. We can't forget the horses! I really enjoyed getting an insider's peek into the world of 'high-end horse showing' (Georgina Bloomberg is a competitor herself), and learning a little more about the way things work. I also, as a fan of YA, I appreciate the characters and story. All the teens have an authentic feel - even with their privileged lives, they've got "normal" problems. They're human. They're young. They're learning - and making a lot of mistakes in the process. And as they make these mistakes and learn these lessons, they're starting to realize that personal actions have an impact on others - that sometimes, your first impression (or prejudice) is wrong - that sometimes, what you need most is to let others in.

Tommi, Zara and Kate - as well as their horses - have caught my attention, and I will definitely be waiting for book two to hit shelves.

Book provided by my local library.