Book #14

Our homeschool group book club has 2 choices for books--one a little easier and one a little harder.  It is my responsibility to lead the discussion for the harder book, so I always choose to read that book aloud.  If there is time we will read the easier book, too, or I will give that to the kids to read on their own.  This month I did things a little backward.  King of the Wind: The Story of the Godolphin Arabian was the easier book for March, but I read it first.  Now I hope we have time to finish the harder book. 

The book is a story about a young slave, Agba, who is a horse boy for the Sultan in Morocco.  He sees a horse, Sham, born and has great hopes for him (a lot of it based on superstition).  He takes care of the horse and goes with it to France when the horse and 5 others are chosen to be a gift for the king.  Unfortunately the king doesn't want the horses and that starts Agba and Sham on many adventures.  The twist to the story is that Agba can't speak, so he is never able to speak up for himself or his horse.  I wondered how different the story would have been if he could talk.  Although there were many trials, Agba never left Sham's side, and in the end Agba saw Sham fulfill his destiny.