Callie Shaw, Stableboy: A Novel [Hardcover]

Judy Alter (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 10 and up | Grade Level: 5 and up

Callie follows her fierce determination to work with horses by posing as a boy named Caleb and getting a job in a stable.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 5-9. Many people in her small, Depression-era, central Texas town, including Callie's Aunt Edna, who has raised the girl, believe that horse racing is the "devil's work." Despite this fact, 15-year-old Callie dresses as a boy and gets a job in the stables. She becomes involved in the moral quandary of gambling; the inequities of income; and a mystery that involves a doped horse, the unexplained death of another, and the disappearance of a third. The girl also encounters fixed races, suicides, and big winners and desperate losers. She wins the support and friendship of the track owner, who helps reunite her with her long-lost father. At novel's end, there is a possible romance between Callie and an up-and-coming young trainer. Alter tries to cover much ground in one story, which has a Horatio Alger tone to it. Nonetheless, the girl's true grit is admirable, and the tangled mystery and unusual characters will keep horse lovers turning pages.?Toni Dean, Patchogue-Medford Library, NY
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Gr. 4^-6. It's 1933, and the only economic boom in Callie's North Texas town is in horse racing. Fourteen-year-old Callie lives with Aunt Edna, who declares that the new race track is "the devil's work." When the girl loses her job as a maid, she disguises herself as a boy and finds work at the stables. Looking after a race horse becomes a labor of love, but soon Callie is trying to unravel a shady plot to fix races by doping, stealing, and even killing horses. Meanwhile she uses her new contacts to locate her father. As the pace quickens near the end, the loose ends are tied up in ways that seem more expedient than convincing. Still, this first-person story will engage readers while giving them a glimpse of bare larders, broken dreams, and stout hearts during the Depression. Girls who like horse stories better than the standard historical fiction will find this an inviting choice for book reports. Carolyn Phelan

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Hardcover: 188 pages
• Publisher: Eakin Pr; 1st edition (June 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1571680926
• ISBN-13: 978-1571680921
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,579,651 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great But Overlooked Book For Horse-loving Girls, March 23, 2005

By 

Willow and Jasmine "Wren" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Callie Shaw, Stableboy: A Novel (Hardcover)

This is actually one of my favorite books! Nobody seems to know about it, but it is a great horse book and I loved it! The story is about Callie Shaw, a girl growing up in Texas during the depression. She lives with her aunt near a racetrack, and loves horses, but her aunt doesn't approve. Eventually, she disguises herself as a boy to work as a stable boy at the track. She takes care of Pride, and makes friends with a real stable boy who knows who she is. Soon she is caught up in the racing world of intrigue. Horses are stolen, races won and lost and there is her father, a jockey she hasn't seen in years, to be found. It was a really funny horse book for girls who like adventure. And don't pay any attention to the reading level on the book. Ages 4-8 is ridiculous. Maybe 9-12 but teens can read it too. Every horse lover should read it! I hope my point is taken! Go and find this book!!!!