GOLDEN MARE

Deadline (1952, p. 562) and High Road Home (1954, p.2) were two fine books for the 12 to 16 group and this one fulfills the promise of the others. It is set on a ranch out West and it is about an ailing boy and an aging palomino mare and a mutual affection that pulls the boy through to a psychological and physical recovery from rheumatic fever. Robin Daveen's life is suddenly so full of Magic, the mare, that he shares every moment he can with her and dreams about her when they are apart. Indeed it is Magic alone who has his confidence, for Robin's delicacy and other peoples' reactions towards it make him think he is at odds with the world. Yet his parents know that Magic must die soon and they fear that the good she has brought Robin will be undone. At the last Robin himself realizes this too, but in his mind there is a dream-adventure that sends Magic away- not to death but to a free life that in turn gives Robin his first freedom in life.