Dante

December 1, 2014

Gr 4-7-Dante's Inferno comes from a long line of strong and fast thoroughbreds. Expectations are high that he will prove to be just as adept on the racetrack. But while Dante has speed, he has difficulty trusting humans and other horses and quickly earns a reputation for being troublesome. Despite the best efforts of his mother and the few humans he has bonded with, Dante seems destined to be a disappointment. He continues to be shipped around to new places and eventually ends up at Maury River Stables, a horse-riding school where he forms a fragile bond with human Ashley. Will the bond ever be strong enough for Dante to see success? The plot is long on horse-show terminology but short on action. Readers may have trouble getting into the story due to its slow pacing. Give this to horse enthusiasts only.-Beth Cuddy, Seward Elementary School, Auburn, NY

Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 15, 2015
A thoroughbred racehorse tells his story in this middle-grade novel. Dante's Inferno has it all-a superior pedigree, striking looks and a comfortable life in an upscale racing barn. What he doesn't have is the right attitude. He nearly dies at birth but is resuscitated with painful shots of adrenaline, leaving him with a deep distrust of pain-inflicting humans. While technically dead, Dante has an out-of-body experience, meeting his deceased grandfather, a legendary Triple Crown winner named Dante's Paradiso, who tells him he needs to "conquer three great tests" but does not name them. Amateau writes a believable horse'-point-of-view narration, giving Dante a confident, even privileged voice as he relates, first, his failed racing career-despite numerous advantages and even more numerous expectations-and then his second career as a dressage/hunter/cross-country competitor in the Maury River Stables. Gradually-oh, so gradually-Dante learns humility, trust and love. The story has a clear arc and seems to end on a powerful note, but then...there are two more chapters. One describes Dante's meeting with a decrepit Appaloosa (the eponymous Chancey from the first in the series), and in the other, Dante provides a brief history of the thoroughbred breed and its future. Both struggle to fit into the story. Overall, compelling and skillfully written, but in this case, less would have been more. (Fiction. 8-13)

July 1, 2015
After washing out at the racetrack, thoroughbred Dante lands first in a prison racehorse rehabilitation center and then at Maury River Stables, where he finds his destiny meeting other Maury River legends and partnering with Ashley as a great eventing horse. Amateau really knows how to capture the magic of the horse-human bond, and Dante's smart, distinctive first-equine (a.k.a. first-person) voice is a winning hook.

(Copyright 2015 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)