Publishers Weekly
Five months after his beloved mother's death, 17-year-old Gaston Giambanco Jr., aka Gas, runs away from his Texas home and his drunken, racist father's escalating abuse. With no place to go, he winds up in a truck with three Mexicans headed to a racetrack in Arkansas. Gas inherited his hatred of “beaners” from his father, and it's intensified since one played a role in the traffic accident that killed his mother. Predictably, the skilled Mexican groomers turn out to be far more reliable than the racetrack boss, a corrupt trainer who falsifies Gas's ID papers to make him appear to be 18. Volponi (The Hand You're Dealt) sacrifices plausibility for pacing as, within days of his arrival, Gas, a slight 105 pounds, is elevated from hot walker (responsible for cooling down horses after racing) to race jockey with absolutely no training. Like a six-furlong race, this one's over in a wink, but the healthy message about tolerance gives it some lasting power. Ages 12–up. (Sept.)
VOYA
- Ed Goldberg
When sixteen-year-old Gaston's mother is killed by a sheriff's high-speed chase of an illegal alien or "beaner," his father, never the warmest person, becomes drunk and abusive. He blames Mexicans for many of his life's ills. Gas, a smallish teenager, cannot stand up to his father's abuse and runs away from his Texas home by hitching rides. The final ride is in the back of a pick-up truck with those same Mexicans his father has taught him to hate. He ends up at a race track where the Mexicans are going to train horses. Gas gets a job hot-walking (cooling down horses after racing), and although he learns that his boss, Dag, is not the most upstanding trainer, his stay at the track is temporarily tied to Dag. He earns his wings by volunteering to ride a wild horse, although his riding ability is limited. Of course he gets thrown, but he begins earning the respect of and learns to respect his comrades. Volponi continues his streak of well-written novels in this simply written, coming-of-age story about a boy who learns that he cannot generalize about an entire ethnic group. The Mexicans he meets are horse savvy. Their lives are as difficult as Gas's, but in different ways. The book's dialogue and Gas's emotions are on target. There is constant action and some romance. The race track, an unusual locale to place a story, works well for this novel that is also recommended for reluctant readers. Reviewer: Ed Goldberg
Children's Literature
- Greg M. Romaneck
Gaston Giambanco, Jr. decides to run away when his alcoholic father's behavior escalates from neglect to abuse. Gaston's mother was killed in an auto accident involving an illegal alien from Mexico, leaving Gaston hating Mexicans and filled with rage about what he has lost. A series of events leads Gaston to a racetrack where he is hired to hot-walk thoroughbreds after they work out. Soon Gaston is given an opportunity to ride as a jockey. Troubled by his boss' illegal drugging of horses, Gaston is faced with a terrible dilemma. Should he try to win a race even though it is unethical, or should he risk his new life by telling the truth? In the end, Gaston chooses a surprising and potentially fatal course of action. Author Paul Volponi tackles several challenging themes in this book. Issues of bigotry, abuse, and ethics all intertwine in the story of young Gaston. The final resolution of the plotline leaves readers with food for thought in each of these areas. As a result, this is a quick read that will appeal to teens while challenging some of the assumptions they might have. One cautionary note, Volponi does include profanity as well as ethnic slurs about Mexicans and Mexican-Americans. Reviewer: Greg M. Romaneck
School Library Journal
Gr 9 Up—Gaston's mother died a few months ago, and his dad has become a mean drunk. After one beating too many, the teen cleans out his father's wallet and takes off. He manages to hitch a ride on a flatbed, only to discover that he is stuck with a bunch of border-jumping "beaners." Gas's father's hatred for Mexicans only grew when the accident that killed his wife involved a couple of them, and Gas shares his prejudice. The men are heading to Arkansas to work at a racehorse farm, where Gas also gets a job with an unsavory, unethical trainer. He moves up from hot walker to jockey, endures the taunting and derision from the experienced jockeys, and takes a couple of bad falls. Along the way, he questions his hatred for the beaners, and finally comes to terms with his feelings and finds a place to call home. From the first page, Volponi is off and running, delivering a fast-paced book that will sustain the interest of reluctant readers. Homestretch is a sure winner.—Debbie Rothfeld, Countryside High School, Clearwater, FL
Kirkus Reviews
Gaston "Gas" Giambanco flees from his Texas home at the age of 17 to escape his violent, alcoholic father and the painful absence of his deceased mother. He enters the clandestine underbelly of a racetrack in Arkansas, managed by a corrupted man, Damon "Dag" Dagget, who exploits Mexican immigrants that are not authorized to work in the United States. Ironically, Gas was raised under the ambivalent sentiments of a racist father who called Mexicans "beaners" and a compassionate mother, Mar'a, who shared with them the language of her Spanish ancestors. Gas is convinced that a Mexican killed his mother in a car accident, although he knows that it was a sheriff's deputy who "blew a stop sign and hit her head-on" in pursuit of the immigrant. Living in Pennington Racetrack was not in his plans. But there, illuminated by the memories of his mother and touched by the kindness of three Mexicans, Ignacio, Rafael and Anibal, Gas finds redemption and the chance to achieve a childhood dream: to become a jockey. An intense novel that treats controversy with commendable honesty. (Fiction. YA)
