The God of Animals (2007) (edit title/settings)

Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit

Write a ridiculously simplified synopsis.

Characters/People edit see section history

• Alice Winston: narrates the story. She's eleven and is trying to grow up when her family is falling apart and her life is sort of in disarray.
• Joe Winston: Father of Alice Winston, he loves horses and he loves his family but knows he can't keep it from falling apart.
• Nona Winston: the older sister of Alice Winston and daughter of Joe Winston, Nona runs away with a cowboy at the beginning of the book and isn't seen until the middle. She's described as blonde, beautiful and possessing amazing abilities with horses, especially her horse, Yellow Cap.
• Sheila Altman: one of the students of Joe Winston, Sheila is Alice's best friend throughout the book. She's very unaware of what is imperfect in her world, but is very ashamed of her amateur riding skills until she starts winning competitions. She buys Yellow Cap from the Winstons when Nona leaves.
• Jerry: Jerry is the cowboy that Nona runs away with. He is a former rodeo star, and is very calm and able to work long hours without breaking a sweat. He is a major part of the climax of the book.
• Yellow Cap: While not specifically a human, Yellow Cap was an important character because he was the dividing line between Nona and Sheila. He is described as a gorgeous Palomino horse, and will do anything Nona tells him to do but is not so obedient when Sheila is trying to teach him.
• Patty Jo: Patty Jo is one of the boarders that Joe takes on when the horse ranch begins to run out of money. She is very pretty and has one son in college and a husband who's a doctor. Joe finds himself falling in love with her throughout the course of the book.
• Alice Winston: narrates the story. She's eleven and is trying to grow up when her family is falling apart and her life is sort of in disarray.
• Joe Winston: Father of Alice Winston, he loves horses and he loves his family but knows he can't keep it from falling apart.
• Nona Winston: the older sister of Alice Winston and daughter of Joe Winston, Nona runs away with a cowboy at the beginning of the book and isn't seen until the middle. She's described as blonde, beautiful and possessing amazing abilities with horses, especially her horse, Yellow Cap.
• Sheila Altman: one of the students of Joe Winston, Sheila is Alice's best friend throughout the book. She's very unaware of what is imperfect in her world, but is very ashamed of her amateur riding skills until she starts winning competitions. She buys Yellow Cap from the Winstons when Nona leaves.
• Jerry: Jerry is the cowboy that Nona runs away with. He is a former rodeo star, and is very calm and able to work long hours without breaking a sweat. He is a major part of the climax of the book.
• Yellow Cap: While not specifically a human, Yellow Cap was an important character because he was the dividing line between Nona and Sheila. He is described as a gorgeous Palomino horse, and will do anything Nona tells him to do but is not so obedient when Sheila is trying to teach him.
• Jack: The father of Joe, who owned the ranch and left it to Joe and his family.
• Mr. Delmar: Add a description of this character.
• Polly Cain
• Janice Reardon
• Bud Pope
• Bart
• Darling
• Jody
• Andy
• Marian
• Colleen Murphy
• Zach
• Rachel
• Valerie Hayes
• Sharon
• Ginger
• Ruby
• Abigail
• Bitsy

Quotes edit see section history

• “Sixth months before Polly Cain drowned in the canal, my sister, Nona, ran off and married a cowboy.”

  Alice Winston

• Popular Highlights from Kindle Customers

• “They’re the people who are the hardest to stay away from.”

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• But the places we come from don’t leave us as easily as we leave them.

  Highlighted by 4 Kindle customers

• wondered how I could have ever believed that I was protecting anyone from anything. The world was what it was. There were no secrets. There were only

  Highlighted by 4 Kindle customers

• “That’s what we do for the people we love.” “What?” I whispered. “We keep their secrets.”

  Highlighted by 4 Kindle customers

• THIS IS THE TRUTH about things: If you take something that isn’t yours, it will never belong to you. You can try to hold on to it, but somehow, it will slip through your fingers. If something wasn’t meant to be yours, it won’t be. No matter what you do to keep it, you will lose it.

  Highlighted by 3 Kindle customers

• And though inside my head, I couldn’t think that we were doing anything wrong, someplace deep inside my core felt dark and clenched with fear. In some way I could not name, we weren’t playing by the rules. Eventually, there would have to be a price.

  Highlighted by 3 Kindle customers

• “Marriage,” she said quietly, “is the most expensive ticket to nowhere.”

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• What was important was knowing that all I had to do to be better than other people was act like I was.

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• All the warmth, the sweet, gentle love that had swelled in my rib cage only moments before, now singed and crackled, burned and dead inside of me. I felt nothing. I could not have cried if my life depended on it.

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Setting & Locations edit see section history

• Desert Valley
• California
• Michigan
• Idaho
• Kansas

First Sentence edit see section history

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

1. Aryn Kyle (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Awards edit see section history

• Mountain and Plains Bookseller Award (2008: Fiction)
• Alex Awards (2008)
• Spur Award (2008: Best Western Long Novel, Winner)

Classification edit see section history

• Library of Congress: Add the Library of Congress Classification.
• Dewey: 813.6

Subjects edit see section history

• Books › Literature & Fiction › World Literature › United States
• Books › Literature & Fiction › Contemporary