Sign in with Facebook
Loading...
4th out of 5 books
—
3 voters
Firehorse
When fifteen-year-old Rachel is forced to move to Boston in 1872, she is furious. She is also lonely, for her beloved horse, Peaches, has been sold. But Rachel soon finds a horse that needs her, and needs her desperately: The Governor's Girl, a famous firehorse, has been badly burned. Rachel gets permission to care for the Girl in a stable behind her house.
As she cares for...more
As she cares for...more
Hardcover, 336 pages
Published
October 1st 2006
by Margaret K. McElderry Books
(first published 2006)
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
984)
I was throwing out old school junk and found an old reading log... apparently I had read this book. Oh yes, that Firehorse.
The writing wasn't too terrible, but I remember it being highly impractical. Again we have a 19th century girl acting as though she were a modern rebel. It disappoints me very much when characters start questioning their social order when they shouldn't - especially so when they are set in pre-World War environments and when they are upper-class gentry. This select group di...more
The writing wasn't too terrible, but I remember it being highly impractical. Again we have a 19th century girl acting as though she were a modern rebel. It disappoints me very much when characters start questioning their social order when they shouldn't - especially so when they are set in pre-World War environments and when they are upper-class gentry. This select group di...more
Rachel loved her horse "Peaches". Quite often without her parents knowledge, she would ride Peaches many miles from town, sometimes having a full out race with a steam engine. She loved, ate, and drank horses. Suddenly she finds her family moving back east to Boston and Peaches being sold. She was broken hearted until her brother took her to a nearby fire station to see the horses that pulled the engines. Upon getting there, they found that a horse, Governer's Girl, had been badly burned and inj...more
I loved this book; particularly because Rachel wanted to be a veterinarian, and that's my aspiration in life as well. I found it especially intriguing that Wilson set a fictional story during a very real American catastrophe. And of course, the involvement of a horse really peaked my interest; as a life-long horse lover, anything with a horse in it immediately grabs my interest.. But all in all, a great book! This is one that I can (and will!) read again and again.
Set in 1871-1872 Boston, Rachel is a young Victorian age girl with her mind set on the future. She loves horses and quickly takes a burned fire station horse under her wing. Tending the Girl, and growing quite fond of Mr. Stead, the vet who treats her, she decides she wants to be come a "veternary" too. Her father, a newspaper man, vehemently objects. Although I'm sure he was a product of his time, he was a complete horse's ass (pun intended) and I found myself kind of hoping he WAS the person b...more
I thought that this book was okay to read and the topic is about horses who are my favorite land animals. This book was mainly about this teenager girl, Rachel, who has a love for horses. She got moved to Boston because her family needed to start a new life there. That is when her brother got a job at the fire station that had a full stable of horses but not for long. Since this year there has been many fires and the fire horses became very ill so this is whan Rachel comes into the story to pla...more
I picked this book up a few times at the library (me being a horse lover and intrigued by the title and cover...) but never got around to actually reading it, but once I finally did I was sorry I hadn't taken the time to read it before. It was thrilling and described so well and differently that it was almost like sitting in a movie and watching the story play out. It had a really interesting plot line as well. It was set back in 1872, and the way it's written makes you forget where you are and...more
When Rachel's fathers loses his job in a small western town in 1872, he packs up the whole family and moves them to Boston. This includes selling Rachel's beloved horse, Peaches.
But life in Boston may not be so bad. Rachel quickly finds herself in charge of (sort of) a high-spirited horse badly burned in a suspicious fire. Rachel finds that she has a knack for veterinary medicine and decides, with the help of Dr. Stead, town veterinary, that she wants to go to veterinary school. But her father p...more
But life in Boston may not be so bad. Rachel quickly finds herself in charge of (sort of) a high-spirited horse badly burned in a suspicious fire. Rachel finds that she has a knack for veterinary medicine and decides, with the help of Dr. Stead, town veterinary, that she wants to go to veterinary school. But her father p...more
Aug 10, 2012
Isabelle
added it
I don't know what to think about this book right now. It was. . . not perfect. Not good, but not especially bad. Two and a half stars. Let me begin.
The Good
Rachel is such an amazing character. She is strong and defiant (although she was a bit . . . like a dog, but I'll explain later). She stands up for herself, and pursues her veterinary dreams like there's no tomorrow. She made me feel a little bit inspired.
Rachel's grandma was pretty awesome.
The writing was pretty good.
The Bad
I watched with dr...more
The Good
Rachel is such an amazing character. She is strong and defiant (although she was a bit . . . like a dog, but I'll explain later). She stands up for herself, and pursues her veterinary dreams like there's no tomorrow. She made me feel a little bit inspired.
Rachel's grandma was pretty awesome.
The writing was pretty good.
The Bad
I watched with dr...more
Rachel is horse-crazy. It may be proper for young ladies to ride side-saddle, but she doesn't have time for propriety when she is astride her horse Peaches, racing trains across the countryside. Her wild rides come to an end when her father moves the family to Boston. A tragic fire leaves a firehorse terribly burned, and Rachel volunteers to nurse it back to health. As she tends to the horse, Rachel dreams of becoming a veterinarian, unheard of in 1782. Her newspaper man father certainly won't h...more
I really enjoyed this book, and rated it four stars out of five. As a horse-crazy girl myself, I really connected to the main character and understood her emotions about breaking free from her father and the expectations of a woman to become a greater person. It was just a pleasure read, so I didn't really keep track of the themes, but there were some very prominent ones like female roles, struggling for your identity, etcetera. I found this book to be very similar to House on Mango Street. In b...more
I think the plot of this book is amazing I stay up till 12:00 finishing this book. This book is set In Boston in 1872 where girls usually wear corsets when riding a horse well Rachel doesn't she loves to ride free on her horse peaches . That all changes when she move to Boston.soon she found a horse that needed her help while Rachel care for this horse she wanted to be a veterinary but a girl vet has never been hear of but the town veterinary believes in hers so he teaches her against Rachel fat...more
It was good but I wasn't really caring about the book. It just went way too slow for my taste. It seemed as if the author was just putting random things down to waste some pages because it would of been too short- otherwise. I couldn't finish this book due to how slow it was. Didn't bring any suspense at all. Not even a slight bit original. You could guess the ending when your half way through the book and you're most likely right. Didn't like, but you could like it. I'm more into the stories fu...more
A gripping and inspiring book about a fifteen year old girl and her passion for horses and veterinary medicine that takes place at the time of the great Boston fire of 1872. Wilson kept my emotions engaged from page one to the conclusion of the Author's Notes at the end of the book. The last sentence of her Author's Notes says it all:
This story is written for all those girls who have been told "You can't." and still decide for themselves that "I can."
This story is written for all those girls who have been told "You can't." and still decide for themselves that "I can."
I LOOOOVE THIS BOOK!! i recommend it to EVERYONE, especially horse lovers or girls that dream of becoming vets for horses or any other animal. I really did enjoy reading this book and i whole-heartedly rate this book 5 stars. i wish they would have made this book into a movie because i would be there at the cinema opening day! Do yourself a huge favor and READ THIS BOOK!!!
it was a bit slow at the begging but it truly warmed up the pace! its vivid details,and accuracy on horse anatomy or should i say horse spirit power kept me reading to the very last page!a great read for horse lovers and those with a taste for the historical fiction isle.
A fantastic blend of horses and history, in the style of Victoria Holmes but even better. I was particularly interested in the girl's stubborn determination to be a vet even though that was hardly an encouraged profession for women in the 19th century.
i loved this book soooo much! i was so sad when it ended bc it was my first and last book i read. isnt there any other series? I wish there was at least one more:( Btw i read the newer book, not the hard cover.. But im sure they are the same
Such a good historical fiction! I think everyone should read it. It really gives you a good idea of what America used to be like. If you like horses, then this is definetly the book for you.
Firehorse is a story that gets you hooked from the first page and keeps you wanting to read straight thru. I found the characters to be very believable.This story opened a discussion in my classroom about how we sometimes treat people based on stereotypes.
I really liked this book because I love horses and it taught me a lot about them. I also learned a lot about veterinary medicine. Overall, I REALLY enjoyed this book! :)
Wonderful book - especially if you enjoy animal stories. This story take place in 1872 - a time in history when girls rarely could work outside the home and had many, many restrictions on any activity they could do. Rachel loves horses and wants to be a veterinarian, but he father won't even hear of it. After moving to Boston, Rachel helps heal a firehorse (pulls the fire wagon to fires) that was severely burned in a fire. she also helps the local vet with all the horses in the city who have fal...more
very sad
Firehorse brings out the true fire and passion in Rachel's heart to be with the Girl . This is a heart-pounding book that i could not bring myself to put down .
Great story written about a girl, a horse, a dream and the great boston fire. I love all the Christian writings in the story as well. Truly remarkable.
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
This book annoyed me greatly at first. Here we have a young girl set in 1872 and she has a complete disregard for every single social norm ever set up for women. This wouldn't have bothered me so so much if she had had someone to mimic this model from. I just didn't see the point in living in the late 1800's when all the character did was rebel against the norm and refuse to live in the setting handed to her. This story could just as easily been 1972 the way the girl acted so modern.
Over all I...more
Over all I...more
I loved this book!! It was upsetting when the horses died but the end was good:) I wais the book would have gave more of a follow up:)
Fantastic read! It really explains in depth the road to recovery with the Govener's Girl. It really makes me want to go be a vet! :)
I don't really remember what exactly happened in it, but I do remember that I didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would
Rachel's dad absolutely drove me nuts in this book. I think, though, that this adds empathy to the female characters and makes the reader go, "Prove him wrong!"
There are no discussion topics on this book yet.
Be the first to start one »
Nov 17, 2012 10:06am
updated Nov 22, 2012 01:56pm
Nov 22, 2012 03:10pm