In the sequel to Born that Way, the reader finds young Sylvia is having an interesting battle. For a horse nut, it is hard to explain why the fourteen year old would be anxious about the arrival of her very first horse. Sylvia’s grandfather surprised her by purchasing her a gelding. He has been sent from Saskatchewan to the barn that her friend Kansas owns and runs. In Made that Way, Sylvia is finally getting her first horse, in spite of having not grown taller.
As someone with Turner Syndrome, Sylvia has a genetic disease that results in her being infertile and missing oestrogen because of underdeveloped ovaries. It also leaves her at a height where she struggles to see over stall doors. In an endeavour to change this, she is on medication that should help her to develop like a normal teen.
For Sylvia all it seems to do is cause headaches, double vision and nausea. Unless that can all be chalked down to her sense of doom about her arriving horse.
Brooklyn’s arrival is not what she expects. The grey gelding comes off the truck lame, has something wrong with his head and has left Kansas speechless. Sylvia isn’t quite sure what’s going on, but she doesn’t like it. Kansas is hiding something from her. On top of this, the weird unicorn that frequents her dreams has led her to some confusing – and extremely amusing – conclusions.
Made that Way is a very amusing read with some great horse information in it. As Sylvia learns more about Brooklyn, she makes some analogies about herself and her life at school. Herd dynamics help her to see the bullies at school – and how they need to be managed – in a different light. Made that Way is a great follow on from Born that Way and has a wonderful mixture of humour, education regarding horses, teen angst and a great conclusion. Highly recommended.
Author – Susan Ketchen
Fiction – early teenage years
In my library – as an eBook it is! A great read.
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