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A review by appaloosa05
Crossing the Line: A Fearless Team of Brothers and the Sport That Changed Their Lives Forever by Kareem Rosser
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.