Changing Times

Treasured Horses Collection

by Deborah G. Felder

When Lucy's father gets a Model T, he decides to sell their horse, Clipper

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Horses, Childrens

120 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1998

About the author

Deborah G. Felder is a graduate of Bard College, where she studied drama and literature. She worked as an editor at Scholastic, Inc., and has been a freelance writer and editor for over 30 years.
She is also the author of four children's novels and two almanacs for children. In addition, Felder wrote the adaptations of popular children's books, The Three Musketeers and Anne of Green Gables. Felder has also written a number of books chronicling influential women and noteworthy events in women's history.

Reviews

[Katja Labonté · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 stars. To begin with, the sub-title of this book give you a wrong impression from the start: ‘proving that grownups don’t always know what’s best.’ I feel as if that’s a dangerous subject for tweens—the audience that this book is aimed at. However, that’s not really the idea in the book—it’s more like circumstances show the grownup that he’s wrong. I find though that the language is not very accurate to the time period. There’s also several instances when Lucy lies to Miss Sullivan, and she never asks pardon, though she confesses her worst lies. There are some funny scenes, but overall I don’t really like this book.

[Jane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Changing Times feels a bit more childish in nature than many other books in the Treasured Horses Collection, even for kids who can relate to what the protagonist goes through. The dialogue is weak, the stakes are incredibly low, and the main character behaves selfishly without facing any consequences for her actions. Deborah Felder is capable of writing much more compelling storylines (as she has in other books of this series), which made this one extra disappointing.

At the annual Founder’s Day parade of 1912 in Pine Bluff, Tennessee, ten-year-old Lucy Gordon and her Tennessee Walking Horse Clipper are spooked by the arrival of a beautiful woman driving a brand-new Model T automobile. Lucy is further horrified to discover that the woman (who happens to be Maggie Sullivan, Lucy’s new schoolteacher) has brought the car to Pine Bluff to make a trade with Lucy’s father in exchange for Clipper and their buggy. Desperate to keep her beloved horse and her father safe from a stranger’s clutches, Lucy searches for ways to convince Maggie Sullivan that she and her newfangled inventions have no place in Pine Bluff, but Lucy will first have to convince her father that the old ways still have their own merit.

Changing Times is set in the early 1910s, at the advent of many inventions and innovations including automobiles, vitamins, and advanced machinery — these things are contrasted negatively with town socials, street parades, and horses and buggies to push the idea that change is not always a good thing. This book presents the Tennessee Walking Horse as its featured horse breed, but I was disappointed in (1) how little we learn about the breed throughout the story and (2) how little Lucy and Clipper’s relationship is emphasized. The horse is important to the story but only as a MacGuffin, as most of the story revolves around Lucy’s attempts to rid herself of Maggie Sullivan; she eventually warms up to her, however, and there’s an implication that Maggie may one day be Lucy’s stepmother. The plot is resolved not by Lucy’s actions throughout the book but by a circumstance at the end of the story, which makes most of the novel feel superfluous. The drama between Lucy, her father, and Maggie is the crux of the novel, abandoning that excitement that most of the other installments in the series have. Sandy Rabinowitz’s black-and-white sketch illustrations, however, are adorable as always, even as Felder’s writing style slips a bit below average.

I was conflicted on my feelings about our protagonist Lucy: while I sympathized with her very real jealousy and uncertainty, I found her more childish and sulky than most of our other protagonists in this series. Lucy’s father, Dr. Phillip Gordon, comes across as being remarkably self-involved and unsympathetic, but likable Maggie Sullivan and Lucy’s strict grandmother Mary are better supporting characters. Characters like the Sloans and Atkinses appear briefly but never feel truly important, while Sarah Wilkes feels a bit like a rehash of Cassie Howard from Pride of the Green Mountains. I’m also not sure how I feel about the message that the old ways are worth preserving while the new ways bring more trouble than they’re worth; I don’t think that was Felder’s ultimate goal, but the lesson is ambiguous enough to be questionable. Even more questionable is the fact that Lucy spends most of the book lying and scheming to get rid of Maggie and keep Clipper — and it just… works. While Lucy’s fears are completely understandable, it’s unfortunate that the author didn’t take the opportunity to illustrate what bad consequences a child can create by telling lies and trying to manipulate adults’ decisions. Thankfully, most of the other books in the Treasured Horses Collection are a bit more nuanced and positive in message.

Changing Times just isn’t compelling in the same way that most of the other books in this series are. Though it reminded me at times of the American Girl: Samantha series, this book lacks definition, positive role models, and high stakes, and the relationship between Lucy and Clipper falls pretty flat in the wake of all the distracting drama that unfolds. I wish this one had been better; it could have been really interesting to see a developed storyline of horses vs. cars!

[Betty · Rating 3 out of 5]

and easily read book for lower grades