Another Kind of Teen Novel

Categories: Teen Books , Gay & Lesbian

 Anyone who grew up – as I did – devouring any and all horse-related books, from Marguerite Henry’s Misty of Chincoteague and Bonnie Bryant’s The Saddle Club to Walter Farley’s The Black Stallion series and Mary O’Hara’s My Friend Flicka, will recognize themselves in the opening passage of Susan Juby's Another Kind of Cowboy:

In the beginning…

There was Del Magnifico le Noir. If you didn’t know better, you might have mistaken him for a dark-blue Norco bike, but to six-year-old Alex Ford, Magnifico was a three-year-old Thoroughbred, reminiscent of the Black Stallion. Like the Black Stallion, Magnifico was given to bursts of thrilling speed, which is why Alex kept a red dog leash tied to his handlebars.

For non-affluent Alex Ford, his only chance to be around horses is granted when his father finds him an old Western reining horse. Except Alex wants to do dressage (a kind of equine ballet), which is at the opposite end of the riding spectrum. Unfortunately for Alex, his father sees cowboys and Western riding as the epitome of masculinity. Alex’s realization that he is gay creates a further barrier between himself and his father.

I admit, I was wary about reading yet another “coming of age” teen novel. There are the tired and typical formats, in which the young main character is always an outsider, with a lack of adult presence, and worst of all, people want him to be someone he is not!

In Another Kind of Cowboy, those clichés (and more) are present but fade to the background as Juby interweaves different points of view into an satisfying ride, er, read, about a boy who loves horses.