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mytmutts's review
5.0
Well-written, optimistic yet realistic, a page-turner. I read this in two sittings, couldn't put it down.
libby_libaryon's review
5.0
I love the writer's story and voice. I think Rosser does an especially good job of providing multiple examples and anecdotes to help more privileged readers understand the conditions that poorer folks and folks of color face just to live every day. I've been told "there are no good choices" and I think he emphasized that in his own way. He did a good job of explaining his empathy for his other family members while taking every opportunity he could for himself.
Of course, as an equestrian, I love that he shared how horses help his mental health. Over all, a great memoir. Looking forward to adding it to the shelf in my school library.
Of course, as an equestrian, I love that he shared how horses help his mental health. Over all, a great memoir. Looking forward to adding it to the shelf in my school library.
estimpert's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Animal death, Bullying, Child death, Drug abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, and Racial slurs
slferg's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
A very inspiring story of family, courage and determination.
hollyo6292's review
5.0
As someone who is lucky enough to see Lezlie and the barn every few months when the tack shop I work for donates used goods to WTR, this book makes me want to be more involved with the organization’s future.
Of course, I had heard of Kareem just from my minimal exposure to this organization, but I did not know his whole story. His book is beautiful, tragic, and impossible to put down. I am so grateful he has shared his story.
Of course, I had heard of Kareem just from my minimal exposure to this organization, but I did not know his whole story. His book is beautiful, tragic, and impossible to put down. I am so grateful he has shared his story.
appaloosa05's review
This well-written memoir is the tale of Kareem Rosser, his siblings, and others in his West Philadelphia neighborhood. It drew me in immediately, and I was swept up into the emotion and tension of the struggle for survival in a rough urban neighborhood. I appreciated Rosser's perspective and fair presentation of his experience. I am sorry he experienced the traumatic experiences he did, and I wish no one would have to go through that, but there was still some hopefulness as he wrote about the horses and the barn and the people in his life who were fighting for him. Rosser takes a balanced approach, and examines the motives and reasons behind the decisions made.
I am always drawn to stories, whether real-life or made up, of city-dwelling youth who connect with horses. Probably because that was my life as a child and teenager. I often felt very isolated in my love for horses, and endured a lot of teasing from others in the neighborhood as I would canter or gallop to the nearest bodega, pretending to be riding a horse. Our city did not have a Work to Ride program or similar within its geographic bounds, but once I was in my teen years, I was able to work on a farm in exchange for riding lessons. This memoir transported me back to those days of simply longing to be near horses. While my experience was not the same as Rosser's, I felt connected to him and his story partly because of the love for horses that runs through both of us.
I am always drawn to stories, whether real-life or made up, of city-dwelling youth who connect with horses. Probably because that was my life as a child and teenager. I often felt very isolated in my love for horses, and endured a lot of teasing from others in the neighborhood as I would canter or gallop to the nearest bodega, pretending to be riding a horse. Our city did not have a Work to Ride program or similar within its geographic bounds, but once I was in my teen years, I was able to work on a farm in exchange for riding lessons. This memoir transported me back to those days of simply longing to be near horses. While my experience was not the same as Rosser's, I felt connected to him and his story partly because of the love for horses that runs through both of us.
lady_grey_with_honey's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.75
This is a fantastic memoir about a nonprofit horse barn in Philadelphia and the city kids whose lives were transformed by riding horses and playing polo. Rosser and his siblings grew up in a neighborhood devastated by poverty, addiction, and violence. While riding their bikes one day, the siblings happen upon the Work to Ride Stables and meet the nonprofit's owner, Lezlie, who immediately gives them after school jobs and gets them up on horses. She also teaches them how to play polo, typically considered a rich man's sport, and coaches them all the way to a national championship. It's an incredible story.