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Half Broke Horses
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Half Broke Horses (2009) (edit title/settings)

A True Life Novel

by Jeannette Walls (Author) (edit contributors)

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Description edit see section history

A story of the free-spirited, wisecracking grandmother of Jeannette Walls (The Glass Castle) this novel follows Lily Casey Smith in her fearless, progressive life. It introduces readers to a character so bold as to jump off the page into reality to scold the reader for not realizing the depth... read more

Summary edit see section history

" Those old cows knew trouble was coming before we did ." So begins the story of Lily Casey Smith, in Jeannette Walls's magnificent, true-life novel based on her no-nonsense, resourceful, hard working, and spectacularly compelling grandmother. By age six, Lily was helping her father break... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)

" Those old cows knew trouble was coming before we did ." So begins the story of Lily Casey Smith, in Jeannette Walls's magnificent, true-life novel based on her no-nonsense, resourceful, hard working, and spectacularly compelling grandmother. By age six, Lily was helping her father break horses. At fifteen, she left home to teach in a frontier town -- riding five hundred miles on her pony, all alone, to get to her job. She learned to drive a car ("I loved cars even more than I loved horses. They didn't need to be fed if they weren't working, and they didn't leave big piles of manure all over the place") and fly a plane, and, with her husband, ran a vast ranch in Arizona. She raised two children, one of whom is Jeannette's memorable mother, Rosemary Smith Walls, unforgettably portrayed in The Glass Castle . Lily survived tornadoes, droughts, floods, the Great Depression, and the most heartbreaking personal tragedy. She bristled at prejudice of all kinds -- against women, Native Americans, and anyone else who didn't fit the mold. Half Broke Horses is Laura Ingalls Wilder for adults, as riveting and dramatic as Isak Dinesen's Out of Africa or Beryl Markham's West with the Night . It will transfix readers everywhere.

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Quotes edit see section history

  • Popular Highlights from Kindle Customers
  • WHEN PEOPLE KILL THEMSELVES, they think they’re ending the pain, but all they’re doing is passing it on to those they leave behind.
    Highlighted by 600 Kindle customers
  • “Most important thing in life,” he would say, “is learning how to fall.”
    Highlighted by 590 Kindle customers
  • When someone’s wounded, the first order of business is to stop the bleeding. You can figure out later how best to help them heal.
    Highlighted by 527 Kindle customers
  • “History gets written by the winners,” he said, “and when the crooks win, you get crooked history.”
    Highlighted by 442 Kindle customers
  • “Anyone who thinks he’s too small to make a difference has never been bit by a mosquito,”
    Highlighted by 421 Kindle customers
  • “Only difference between a traitor and a patriot is your perspective,” he said.
    Highlighted by 380 Kindle customers
  • As I sat down, though, I realized that you can get so used to certain luxuries that you start to think they’re necessities, but when you have to forgo them, you come to see that you don’t need them after all. There was a big difference between needing things and wanting things—though a lot of people had trouble telling the two apart—and at the ranch, I could see, we’d have pretty much everything we’d need but precious little else.
    Highlighted by 359 Kindle customers
  • Dad was a philosopher and had what he called his Theory of Purpose, which held that everything in life had a purpose, and unless it achieved that purpose, it was just taking up space on the planet and wasting everybody’s time.
    Highlighted by 317 Kindle customers
  • Sometimes it didn’t matter how much gumption you had. What mattered were the cards you’d been dealt.
    Highlighted by 307 Kindle customers
  • I wanted to get across the idea that the world was a dangerous place and life was unpredictable and you had to be smart, focused, and determined to make it through. You had to be willing to work hard and persevere in the face of misfortune. A lot of people, even those born with brains and beauty, didn’t have what it took to knuckle down and get the thing done.
    Highlighted by 278 Kindle customers
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Setting & Locations edit see section history

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First Sentence edit see section history

Those old cows knew trouble was coming before we did.

Table of Contents edit see section history

I. Salt Draw
II. The Miraculous Staircase
III. Promises
IV. The Red Silk Shirt
V. Lambs
VI. Teacher Lady
VII. The Garden of Eden
VIII. Gumshoes
IX. The Flyboy
EPILOGUE: The Little Critter

Themes & Symbolism edit see section history

  • "You can because you have to": There is a strong theme of perseverance. Lily will do anything and everything to survive and to live life the best she can. Nothing could stop her if it tried. Any obstacle is overcome in a way the reader might never expect.
  • half-broke horses: Half-broke horses are a clear symbol in the novel that connects characteristics of horses to those of people. There is a consistency between horses and people that is explored throughout the novel. To break horses one must think like a horse. People Lily encounter behave or are compared to half broke horses, and she is the one to break both the horses and some of the people she encounters.

Series & Lists edit see section history

This book is in New York Times Bestsellers (Current). (authoritative list)
This book is in Rainy Day Books (12 Best Books of 2009). (community list)

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

  1. Jeannette Walls (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Original Language: English
Publisher: Scribner
Country: USA
Publication Date: 2009
ISBN: 9781416586289
Page Count: 272

Awards edit see section history

Classification edit see section history

  • Library of Congress: PS3623.A3644 H35 2009
  • Dewey: 813.6

Links to Supplemental Material edit see section history

More Books Like This edit see section history

   
  • Little Heathens
  • The Glass Castle
  • A Wolf at the Table
  • Running With Scissors

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