First off I love Ryan’s books. I think she is a fantastic writer. This is 6th book I have read written by her. The others being Esperanza Rising, Becoming Naomi Leon, Amelia and Eleanor Go for a Ride, When Miriam Sang and Riding Freedom. All of which I highly recommend.

Paint the Wind is about a girl named Maya and a paint horse named Artemisia. Maya is orphaned when her parents are killed in a car crash and raised with by her overly protective grandmother. When her grandma dies she goes to live with her mother’s side of the family in Wyoming. They spend their summers on horses and sleeping in teepees. An unexpected turn of events forces Maya & Artemisia to rely on each other to survive.

As a young child I think I asked for a horse for Christmas for at least two years in a row and now I get to hear the empassioned pleas of my daughter for a horse for Christmas. I still love horse books as it reminds me of my childhood. What impressed me about this book was the research Ryan did to write this book. She actually spent time watching wild horses and slept in a tepee just like in the book, which sounds like fun to me. Paint horses in my opinion are one of the most beautiful of all the horses breeds. If your not sure what kind of horse they are try looking here.

This is a quick read only even though it is slightly over 300 pages because the line spaces are so wide. My favorite line is right after Maya has been bathing in the river . . . “Her face pinked from the afternoon sun, but she beamed as much on the inside as she did on the out.” Maya has dealt with a lot of pain which see hides through telling lies and it was so fun to see her happy in the book and enjoying herself from the inside out.

Happy Reading!
Cari