The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

Pages: 404

Intended Audience: Teens and mature tweens

Genre: Fantasy

Notes for parents: Some violence.

The Back Cover

Some race to win. Others race to survive.

It happens at the start of every November: the Scorpio Races. Riders attempt to keep hold of their water horses long enough to make it to the finish line.

Some riders live.

Others die.

At age nineteen, Sean Kendrick is the returning champion. He is a young man of few words, and if he has any fears, he keeps them buried deep, where no one else can see them.

Puck Connolly is different. She never meant to ride in the Scorpio Races. But fate hasn’t given her much of a choice. So she enters the competition—the first girl ever to do so. She is in no way prepared for what is going to happen.

What the Back Cover doesn’t tell you:

The water horses are the capall uisce (pronounced CAPple ISHka) of Gaelic mythology. They are flesh-eating, water-bound horses active in November that, if lured away from the ocean, are prized mounts better than any land horse.

What’s good?

This is a tense, slow-building story of courage, loyalty and love. The main characters are brilliantly drawn. Sean Kendrick is a quiet young loner with a talent for horses and an uncommon kinship with the capall uisce. Kate Connelly, better known as Puck, is a brazen, high-spirited girl with a love of horses and a strong sense of family. The supporting cast of islanders is equally vivid and the island itself, somewhere off the coast of the British Isles, is captivating with its steep cliffs, sandy shores and quaint small town charm. The suspense builds evenly from the first capall uisce sighting to the day of the race—then it’s a full out chase to the finish.

Best part: Kate’s brother, Finn.

What’s not so good?

It started slow—I almost gave up on it. The only thing that kept me going was Sean Kendrick. I was intrigued.

Worst part: The beginning. If you can get past the few chapters, it gets better.

Recommendations þþþoo

This story will appeal to horse lovers, fantasy readers, romantics and adventure seekers. It’s well written and worth the read if you have the patience to wait for the story to unfold.

Stiefvater, Maggie. The Scorpio Races. New York: Scholastic, 2011.