Customer Reviews

Taming the Star Runner

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(22)
3 star:		(12)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Reviewer Jamie Curran states that this is the only book by S.E. Hinton that she has read, and she may never read another. That would be tragic.

While THE OUTSIDERS, HInton's debut novel, is quite powerful, her best book by far is RUMBLE FISH, which is not only a great novel for young adults but a true literary masterpiece.

If only I could say the same of TAMING THE STAR RUNNER.
It seems to have been written by a different author.

Perhaps it's a matter of perspective: Hinton wrote this book much later than the others, after her own son was a teenager. Too, this is the first time she has used a third-person voice in one of her novels. THE OUTSIDERS owes much of its success to the fact that it sounds like it is told by a kid - it was. Hinton was only 17 when OUTSIDERS was published. (The 14-year-old narrator, Ponyboy, is a boy, but Hinton pulled off the voice flawlessly.)

Here, the omniscient third person narrator sounds like an adult, and a mostly disapproving one at that. We read a great deal about the trouble that Travis got into, and we are introduced to two of his friends, who come off as complete dorks, but we are provided little insight into Travis' motivations for doing what he does, or his perceptions of them. Instead we hear about his transgressions from some anonymous adult who seems to like the boy but can't really relate.

Much of what Travis does throughout the story is spectacularly stupid. Somehow, in RUMBLE FISH and THE OUTSIDERS, we knew that what the characters were doing was wrong - carrying switchblades and sometimes using them, stealing cars, breaking into stores, getting into fights - and they were things that most of us readers would never do, but we could empathize with the characters who did these things. Here, when Travis' uncle finds out that he has written a novel and it's been accepted for publication, he says, "Kid, you don't strike me as the kind who could write a compound sentence, much less a novel."

Well, yeah. That's how he strikes me, too.

So what ABOUT the novel that Travis wrote? We're given nothing except that Travis would often spend weekends holed up in his room, writing, while his doofus friends wondered what he was up to. Then Travis tells his editor he dreams about his characters as if they're people he knows, but the reader gets almost no information about them at all.

Writing a novel must take a great deal of persistence, intelligence, passion, and creativity, and Travis exhibits none of these through his actions in the story. When the time comes for him to prove his strength and courage, HInton throws in - GUESS WHAT! - a fire. She already did this, and it worked, in THE OUTSIDERS. This time it comes off as a cheap rip-off of a better novel. And one she wrote, yet!

One last note: About the time STAR RUNNER was published, there were a number of young adult novels that came out that were based on the same premise: If you just take a wayward lad out of the big, bad city and give him a horse to love and take care of - and make him do some hard manual labor such as only ranchers ever see - he'll turn from a delinquent into a strong, upstanding American who knows the value of hard work, blah, blah, blah. S.L. Rottman, for example, is just one of a slew of authors who wrote a forgetable novel, HERO, just like this.

Come on, Susy! You wrote TEX, for crying out loud. You know better.

And your readers expect better from you.

"Taming the Star Runner" was awesome! I loved every minute of it, even if it wasn't challenging or long. To make it longer would have dragged it out too much. The plot was interesting (especially since it was about horses!!) I first read "The Outsiders" in school and fell in love with S. E. Hinton's books. I couldn't never even imagine trying to get a book published when i was 16!! I did notice a lot of similarities between the two books (same quotes and character portrayl, things like that).

I recommend this book highly!

If I had to choose from a rating of 1-10, Taming the Star Runner, would be a 10. I have always wanted to live on a farm. I thought this book had alot of emossional ups and downs. I like how a bad, non-emossional, punk, turns into a caring, emossional, young man. There was a little bit of everything in the story. There was love, anger, sadness, and happiness. It gave me a good lesson on drinking and its consequences. It really shows me what a bad step-father is like. My step-father is no where near as bad as Stan. It taught me to be sure to choose the right friends and the right descisions in life. Taming the Star Runner was the best book I have ever read.

This is a good book. Travis starts out as a desperate kid and through trial and error and the love of an uncle he'd never seen before he turned sixteen, he begins to grow into a young man. Family relationships are sensitively handled: parents and children who fight but still love each other, husbands and wives who find themselves in hurtful situations, kids who are trying to figure out the right thing to do and not necessarily being able to do it.

The best part of this book is the juxtaposition of Travis the writer with Travis the tough city kid. Some of the funniest and most exciting parts of the book deal with the way he sees himself in relation to other people.

In addition, the book has a theme of finding true belonging and acceptance, which is a difficult enough thing for anyone. It is definitely one of Hinton's best books, and the most mature.

Taming the Star Runner

This was the best story I have ever read. If I had to choose from a rating of 1-10, "Taming the Star Runner", would be a 10. I have always wanted to live on a farm. I thought this book had alot of emotional ups and downs. I like how a bad, non-emotional, punk, turns into a caring, emotional, young man.

There was a little bit of everything in the story. There was love, anger, sadness, and happiness. It gave me a good lesson on drinking and its consequences. It really shows me what a bad stepfather is like. My cousin's stepfather is no where near as bad as Stan. It taught me to be sure to choose the right friends and the right decisions in life. Taming the Star Runner was the best book I have ever read.

Taming the Star Runner

This novel is fascinating and covers important stages of adolescence. The main character Travis, is a traditional cool gay. Part of his problems begin with the differences between his step-father, Stan, and himself. Travis is separated from his mom and friends, when he is sent to live with his uncle. When Travis arrives to uncle's Ken ranch, who is fighting for his son's (Chris) custody with Teresa (ex-wife), the story truly begins. He finds out that his new schoolmates don't like his tough city ways. Yet he is able to find a friend on the ranch, Casey. She is a bit older and runs a riding school at the ranch. She is brave enough to tame Star Runner, her dangerous horse. Back at his old home he had sent one novel he had written to New York. However, nobody knew this. He receives the answering letter which talks really well about his novel. He has big illusions of having his novel published. He is not 18 and this means his mom and Stan will take care of his book.

Most books are the same for me, however, this novel was really a pleasure to read. Even though you are not going crazy to know what? will happen next, it flows easily and is fun. Many young adults could feel identify and find similarities with some of their problems in this story. I like the fact that it has an entertaining plot and a well thought out theme.

After beating up his abusive stepfather, Travis is sent to live with his uncle Ken. The cool, aloof kid must adjust to the country life. When he meets Casey, a girl obsessed with horse shows, particularly the wild Star Runner, he begins to rethink his life and his choices. Another excellent, exciting, insightful book about troubled adolescence from Hinton. Grade: A

Taming the star runner is not like everyother SE hinton book. it is written in 3rd person. but it is still a great book. the ending is thrilling and unbleiveably great! 5 stars!!!

This was over all a good book. I thought it was over to soon and not all in a good way. The climax of the story happens to quickly and after there is a hasty conclusion like SE Hinton was in a hurry to finish it. The story was good though and I still enjoyed the book.

The question "What If?" plays a big part in the story. We all ask that-What if i had... whould things have been better? They would have been different but if we had chosen the other option we would still be sitting around wondering what if. Learn to make the choice you want and move on. We can't change the past so look to the future.

This is the book that you want to read over and over again. It makes you want to appreciate life a lot better than people probably do. Yes, Taming Star Runner by S.E Hinton is one of the best books I have ever read.

Travis, a 16yr old Writer/Juvenile from New York attempted to murder to his stepfather. So now as his punishment he has to go live with his uncle Ken in the country.

When he was back in New York before all this happened he sent off one of his books to a publishing company to well . . .Maybe get published, and he gets a letter back saying. . . . (Hint: I'm not going to tell you)

This novel is about Travis's life with his uncle in the country. Travis has a hard time making friends (which he can never do) and fitting in. (he doesn't complete that ether.

One of my favorite parts is when Travis goes to his new school and says "Damn it" and gets sent down to the principal and Travis thinks he did nothing wrong.

I would recommend this book to anybody 13+ years old because of its well mild to medium bad language.