Homestretch

Impressed. That's all I have to say about this book. Okay, sure, it won't get remembered for its writing, which is direct, plain, and has not a bit of extraneous descriptions or fluff, but it packed quite a punch. There were only 151 pages in all. Quite short, but in it, the author managed to touch on the themes of domestic abuse, racism, grief, the search for one's own self-identity, and sticking up for what's morally right. Homestretch touched on the darker side of horse racing, dealing with drugs, and trainers who don't care about their horses. Gaston was a great character, easily relateable, and had amazing growth in development. Spanish was used a lot in this book without translation and, to me, it didn't detract from the story. It gave the conflicts between Gaston and his own prejudices against them more depth. I can't believe such a short story can work in a lot of things other novels need 300+ pages to do. Don't worry, the story has pretty good pace, and it's not preachy at all. I loved it! Excellent book.

After losing his mother in a tragic accident, Gaston Giambanco, Jr., known as Gas, decides that best thing he can do is leave his drunken, abusive father and head off on his own. He hops on the back of a chicken truck with a bunch of illegal Mexican workers and takes his chances as he heads north. Growing up in Texas, Gas has been surrounded by illegal workers everyone calls beaners. That didn't seem to matter until his mother was killed in a car accident that involved an illegal behind the wheel. Now, Gas harbors hatred toward them that he can barely hold in check. When he finds himself stuck in the back of a smelly truck with three brothers headed north, he can't believe his rotten luck. Gas and the Mexican brothers are dropped off in the dead of night at a race track in Arkansas. Maybe he has had just a bit of good luck. His father worked at a race track handling horses, and his mother loved to ride and attempted to pass her interest in horses on to Gas. The work is dirty and grueling, especially since Gas is at the bottom of the pecking order at the track. He walks the horses after their workouts and does whatever his boss commands. Much to his surprise, he is given the chance to ride as a jockey. Unfortunately, his mount is a horse known for his viciousness and the ride leads to some painful and disappointing performances. Despite the taunts and even threats from other jockeys, Gas is bound and determined to prove himself. As he pushes to earn himself a name on the race track, he learns other valuable lessons about friendship and family bonds. Author Paul Volponi heads into different territory with HOMESTRETCH. His usual subjects involve inner-city youth and gritty relationships involving gangs and the city. Even though the setting is different in this new novel, he still presents life at its toughest as young Gas deals with the anger of losing his mother, the additional loss of an uncaring father, and the prejudice he feels toward a minority group he thinks he should hate forever. Reviewed by: Sally Kruger, aka "Readingjunky"

"Whenever Dad drinks enough whiskey and beer, he acts bigger and meaner. "He started drinking a lot more after Mom died in a traffic accident. A sheriff's deputy blew a stop sign and hit her head-on, chasing some beaner who'd jumped behind the wheel of a stolen car because he didn't want to get deported back to stinking Mexico. "'Just two types who'll work for less money than beaners -- dead folks, and live people with less than a...worth of pride,' Dad always told me. 'That's what keeps salaries here in southwest Texas so low. Those cockroaches will work for next to nothing. And if they ever got exterminated off the face of the earth, folks in these parts would have more, including us.'" When Gaston (Gas) Giambanco Jr.'s horse-loving mother was still alive, and she overheard Gas telling mean jokes about Mexicans, she would remind him of how he felt being the target of jokes and name-calling directed at his small size: "'It wasn't a joke to you, because you knew it wasn't one to them,'" she would say. But now Gas' mom is dead and he's reached the summer between his junior and senior years of high school. When his drunken, chronically out-of -work father finally beats up Gas one too many times and then passes out, Gas empties Dad's wallet, loads up a knapsack, and hits the road. And wouldn't you know it? When Gas finagles a ride on a the back of a flatbed loaded high with cages of live chickens and climbs aboard, he discovers that he is "locked in with a bunch of boarder-jumping beaners." Among the passengers is a trio of young Mexican brothers who are headed for jobs at an Arkansas horse racetrack, and it turns out that a fourth worker is desperately needed. So it is that Gaston Giambanco Jr. spends his summer working in close quarters with the very people his father has taught him to despise. It will be an enlightening summer, and a dangerous one too: his unscrupulous, horse-doping employer creates fraudulent documents that permit the pint-sized Gas -- who has only ever previously done pleasure riding -- to become a jockey. And Gas' first teacher is an ill-fated jockey who has been dealt the worst of hands: "'Being a jockey 'bout waiting your turn to get hurt, or paralyze, or killed. You know 'bout those things, bug?'" Gas' boss' nemesis is an old by-the-book guy named Cap Daly, who owns a competing stable at the racetrack. It is the sweet-and-innocent attention dished out by Cap's angelic granddaughter, Tammie, who is spending her summer working for Cap, that keeps Gas' spirits up as he deals with his repeated missteps, falls, and lack of experience. (In contrast, the Mexican brothers are experts around the track, being from a family that has groomed horses for generations.) HOMESTRETCH is a quick and exciting coming of age story full of mud, blood, speed, sleaze, and danger, along with some really good guys and a young woman who will help Gas as he slowly unloads his personal garbage.