The past few days I’ve had the flu. By the second day, I was both sick and bored, so I picked up a book that I’ve been meaning to read for some time. It’s the first in a series for 9-12 year old girls  (my reading level that day). Starlight Animal Rescue — Runaway — by Dandi Daley Mackall. It was delightful. So many good insights.

The main character, Dakota Brown, arrives at a foster home and immediately plans her escape. She says, “I've run away seven times--never once to anything, just away from. Maybe that's why they call me a "runaway," and not a "run-to."

I found myself wondering how many times I may have run away, rather than to something.

Of course, a relationship with a horse turns her whole picture around, but not without some drama. There are lots of moments of grace that left me wondering if I’d handle things the way her foster parents did. Would I, in the heat of the moment, use a stick rather than a carrot?

No question that this book is worth reading, both for moms and daughters. (Ok, guys. You might like it, too.) One reason is that it’s great fodder for family discussion and for building a relationship with your pre-teen. Be sure to discuss in a way that your teen sees the important points and you don’t come across as preachy or heavy-handed. You don’t want her to run away from sharing her thoughts with you. A key question to ask might be: What part of this story is like real life and what part is fantasy?

Note some of the good horsemanship elements. Advice such as not walking straight toward a hard-to-catch horse but approaching from the side shows good insight. In another situation, Dakota didn’t take the reins but had a death grip on the horse’s mane. Of course, she fell off because she couldn’t control the horse who started to prance when another horse whooshed by. Experienced horse people know these things. Novices pick it up from watching or being told. Pre-teens sometimes pick it up reading books about girls they identify with. Discuss what part of handling the horse wasn’t really safe and only works out in books, but do that without squashing your daughter’s right to dream.

I won’t say much about the relationship elements or I’ll give away the story, but they follow along the same line as the unconditional love one girl has for a horse. You can discuss whether your child thinks someone’s reaction is real or not. Clearly some of these characters understand God’s grace and others don’t. That’s a great conversation starter, too.

One thing you shouldn’t overlook, though, is that this is fiction when it comes to the transformation from wild to trained. Dakota is able to take the wild-yesterday horse and today ride him bridleless and bareback in a scary situation. That falls into the category of, “Don’t try this at home.”

Granted, horses who have been previously trained, then have become fearful due to mismanagement, do remember their training when they become convinced that they won’t be hurt. But, quite often, the horse who has been abused has never been properly trained, or at least has giant holes in his training. This happens a lot with willing horses who go through a quick training process. When they really don’t know what to do next, people think they’re being stubborn. And the fight begins. So what amount of good behavior on the part of horses (or people) is learning to trust, and what part is learning to do?

For $5.99, you’re going to get a whole lot more than a few hours of good reading. Let me know what you think. I’m reading the Winnie the Horse Gentler book by the same author, and will blog about it on www.inspiredbyhorses.com.