Gee Whiz

Abby (Pie in the Sky) is growing up, which means she has some hard decisions to make regarding her family farm and the horses in her life. Readers will come away with more horse knowledge than they had before, while episodes involving school and friends, the elders at church, as well as authentic details about 1960s California, keep this series humming.

Abby, the sensible protagonist of Smiley’s horse girl series set in 1960s–era California (Pie in the Sky, rev. 9/12), is growing up, which means she has some hard decisions to make. The head of the riding stable where Abby teaches wants to buy True Blue for use as a lesson horse, but Abby’s not sure she’s willing to sell. The partial owner of Jack, the orphaned thoroughbred colt Abby bottle-raised, wants him sent to the track for training, but racing training is too expensive for Abby and her family. And a new horse, Gee Whiz, arrives at Abby’s family’s farm, this one a retired racing thoroughbred, extraordinarily tall at 17.1 hands, very curious, and capable of opening gates by himself. Abby’s older brother Danny has just gotten his draft notice for Vietnam, and Abby is determined to keep Gee Whiz and train him for Danny until he returns (“Something to come home to, then,” Danny says). In addition, episodes involving school and friends, the elders at church, and authentic details about life in the 1960s keep this series humming. Horse-loving readers will come away with more horse knowledge than they had before (in particular, how to catch a horse that’s gotten loose from the pasture), but most will keep following the series just to hear how their levelheaded friend Abby is getting on. Art not seen. anita l. burkam