Katie and the Mustang #3

Hoofbeats: Katie and the Mustang #3

by Kathleen Duey

Katie knows she has come too far to give up. Taken under the Kylers' wing, she stays close to the Mustang and clings to her dream of finding her uncle. Then a particularly bad river crossing leaves their guide crippled and their group diminished. Knowing that there is strength in numbers, they join forces with a traveling circus troupe, and somehow make it to Fort Laramie.

Genres: Horses, Historical Fiction, Historical, Childrens, Animals, Fiction, Middle Grade

144 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 2004

About the author

Kathleen Duey grew up in Colorado. She loved riding her horses, hiking, being in the mountains. Reading was always important to her. Writing became a fascination early in her life. In the fourth grade, Kathleen began writing stories and told everyone who would listen that she was going to be an author. Then she did nothing about it until she was 35 years old. Writing was her passion and her dream-come-true.

from: fantasticfiction.co.uk

Kathleen died of cardiac arrest at her home in Fallbrook, California. She was 69. She had struggled with dementia in her latter years which prevented her from completing her Skin Hunger trilogy.

https://web.archive.org/web/202101052...

Reviews

[Pasta Bird · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was, in all, a very good book. I do wish the Mustang would get a name, and I kind of feel like he won’t. Katie doesn’t even seem to be thinking about naming him.
The part with the Native American’s stallion is very far fetched to me. The Mustang still very much has wild instincts. Those instincts are VERY strong. A little girl would not be able to come between a half-wild stallion and what said stallion thinks is a threat to him and his mares, no matter how much the stallion seemed to love her.
Other than that, the book seemed believable and was enjoyable. I appreciated some of the not-so-good situations that they came across. Too many books ignore true peril and only focus on petty problems. This book shows the real dangers that a wagon train would face on the Oregon Trail.

[Ruth Garlick · Rating 3 out of 5]

The journey continues to Oregon, in Katie and the Mustang: Book Three, by Kathleen Duey.
This book was a bit meh. We already got told they were going on a long journey in the previous book, and this one didn’t really add anything more. Yeah, the journey continues. That’s great.
Still, it was a childhood series, so I enjoyed the sense of nostalgia. I’m sure young children and early readers will still like this – you don’t need to think too hard with this book, and nothing really scary happens. Which can be nice, if boring.

[Anonymous · Rating 4 out of 5]

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‘Ware Spoilers!

Generalized Synopsis: Basically the story is a series of small plots in an overarching theme. The best way to experience the books is to read them all in one sitting (very easy to do) once you have them. All but book 2 is available from Archive.org.
The story centers around Katie, a little girl who ends up, after some bad circumstances, an orphan being taken in by a childless couple. In a Harry Potter-esque fashion, Katie ends up in an even worse situation – which weirdly fits the timeline this is all happening- and finds herself escaping her stepparents with a mustang that the man had bought. The horse is, of course, wild to anyone who isn’t Katie. The rest of the books revolves around Katie traveling the Oregon Trail, first with the farmhand who helps her get there, then again with another family all the way to Oregon City.

What I liked: The one thing I’ve come to appreciate about Duey’s plots is they’re entirely grounded in realistic expectations. She follows in Marguerite Henry's fashion, where the protagonist doesn’t always get what they want in the end, or does get something close to what they wanted, despite everything. I appreciate it and find it terribly depressing at the same time. I grew up with the books where everything tied up perfectly in a bow, the protagonist’s dreams and wishes become reality and the bad guys got their just desserts. This doesn’t completely happen in this book. The whole book gravitates around the girl’s relationship with this horse, and yet at the end she’s forced to make a difficult decision. The whole drive behind the plot is to find her uncle, as we’re reminded constantly all the way up to the end, and that doesn’t exactly end how she expected, either. It’s great in that it shows children this … sense of realism, reality, what the world is actually like. But at the same time it’s just like man something needs to go right, something über positive needs to happen here.

What Annoyed Me: While I liked the realism, some of the wishy-washy characters were frustrating, and only showed just how weak the plot really is. It is a children’s series. The plot revolves around relationships and circumstances, and some of those characters only existed to be the antagonist, to cause conflict, or to…evolve into protagonists later in the books for no real reason other than the author wanted them to.

Overall: This series has its faults, sure, but it’s a really good animal/historical fiction series. It does have negative notes, and I would suggest reading it yourself before deciding if your child is up for it. I’d say it’s for mature older children, or children who enjoy these types of books.
I give this series 3 Stars.

[Abby Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you like horses or adventure you will love this book!

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think that Katie should have learned how to swim before starting this journey. Also I would have tried harder to be friends with the Tyler kids.

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the whole series.