The Georges and the Jewels

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More About This Book

Overview

A Pulitzer Prize winner makes her debut for young readers.

Jane Smiley makes her debut for young readers in this stirring novel set on a California horse ranch in the 1960s. Seventh-grader Abby Lovitt has always been more at ease with horses than with people. Her father insists they call all the mares “Jewel” and all the geldings “George” and warns Abby not to get attached: the horses are there to be sold. But with all the stress at school (the Big Four have turned against Abby and her friends) and home (her brother Danny is gone—for good, it seems—and now Daddy won’t speak his name), Abby seeks refuge with the Georges and the Jewels. But there’s one gelding on her family’s farm that gives her no end of trouble: the horse who won’t meet her gaze, the horse who bucks her right off every chance he gets, the horse her father makes her ride and train, every day. She calls him the Ornery George.

From the Hardcover edition.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly
Pulitzer Prize–winner Smiley's first novel for young readers is a lyrical meditation on horses, families and the vicissitudes of peer relationships among girls. Twelve-year-old Abby lives on a California horse farm with her evangelical parents. It is the mid-1960s, and references to Dusty Springfield records and portable hi-fis contrast with the pastoral setting, where the struggle is mainly between Abby and “Ornery George,” one of the gelding horses (all the horses are named George or Jewel by Abby's father to eschew unnecessary attachments). A wise and kindly horse trainer eventually teaches Abby how to temper Ornery George, paralleling the nuanced lessons she learns about her relationship with her father, his fraught dealings with Abby's older brother, Danny, as well as the bullying by the “Big Four” girls at school. As might be expected from the skilled hands of Smiley (A Thousand Acres), there are additional synchronous story lines, such as the ways an unexpected and spirited colt named Jack becomes accepted into the human and horse families. Many will find it difficult to say goodbye to Abby, Jack and especially to Ornery George. Ages 10–up. (Sept.)
More Reviews (1) Fewer Reviews
From The Critics
Abby Lovitt and her family buy horses, train them, and sell them off. Because every horse is on the ranch for only a short amount of time, Abby is not allowed to name them. Instead, her father refers to them only as Georges and Jewels. It is Abby's job to make sure that "a little girl" can ride the horses, and she shines in this role until "Ornery" George comes along. Abby just cannot get a handle on how to train him. Along with her tiring and hardworking life on the ranch, Abby must also deal with the drama that is seventh grade, complete with the popular girl clique, rumors, and the occasional boy drama. Abby longs for a solid friendship that she can count on in her tumultuous life, in which nothing can be counted on to stick around. Not her brother, who her stubborn father kicks out of the house, not the horses that are in and out every six months, and not her best friend, who seems to be getting closer and closer to the new girl in school. Jane Smiley's novel is not quite up to the young adult standards that most teenagers gravitate towards. However, it will pique the interest of the young farm girl looking for a kindred spirit to share a sense of companionship with. The novel jumps between Abby's home and school life with a choppiness that is never quite resolved in this novel, and this will confuse or put off many young readers. Reviewer: Jeanna Sciarrotta

Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780375862274
  • Publisher: Random House Children's Books
  • Publication date: 9/8/2009
  • Pages: 240
  • Sales rank: 204,711
  • Age range: 10 - 12 Years
  • Lexile: 970L (what's this?)
  • Product dimensions: 5.76 (w) x 8.56 (h) x 0.94 (d)

Meet the Author

Jane Smiley
Jane Smiley
Jane Smiley's power as a writer lies in her ability to evoke her chosen milieu, no matter how far-flung. The Pulitzer winner is able to vary her settings -- from 14th-century Greenland to a modern-day college campus -- as well as her tone, never missing a beat.

Biography

Jane smiley is the author of many novels, including A Thousand Acres, which won the Pulitzer Prize, and Horse Heaven. She lives in Northern California. In 2001, she was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

Author biography courtesy of Random House, Inc.

    1. Hometown:
      Northern California
    1. Date of Birth:
      September 26, 1949
    2. Place of Birth:
      Los Angeles, California
    1. Education:
      B.A. in English, Vassar College, 1971; M.A., Iowa University, 1975; M.F.A, 1976; Ph.D., 1978

Read an Excerpt

The Georges and the Jewels

By Jane Smiley

Knopf Books for Young Readers

Copyright © 2009 Jane Smiley
All right reserved.
ISBN: 9780375962271
Chapter 1

Sometimes when you fall off your horse, you just don't want to get right back on. Let's say he started bucking and you did all the things you knew to do, like pull his head up from between his knees and make him go forward, then use a pulley rein on the left to stop him. Most horses would settle at that point and come down to a walk. Then you could turn him again and trot off--it's always harder for the horse to buck at the trot than at the lope. But if, right when you let up on the reins, your horse put his head between his knees again and took off bucking, kicking higher and higher until he finally dropped you and went tearing off to the other end of the ring, well, you might lie there, as I did, with the wind knocked out of you and think about how nice it would be not to get back on, because that horse is just dedicated to bucking you off.

So I did lie there, looking up at the branches of the oak tree that grew beside the ring, and I did wait for Daddy to come trotting over with that horse by the bridle, and I did stare up at both their faces, the face of that horse flicking his ears back and forth and snorting a little bit, and the face of my father, red-cheeked and blue-eyed, and I did listen to him say, "Abby? You okay, honey? Sure you are. I saw you bounce! Get up,now."

I sighed.

"How am I going to tell those folks who are looking to buy these horses that a little girl can ride them, if you don't get up and ride them?"

I sat up. I said, "I don't know, Daddy." My elbow hurt, but not too badly. Otherwise I was okay.

"Well, then."

I stood up, and he brushed off the back of my jeans. Then he tossed me on the horse again.

Some horses buck you off. Some horses spook you off--they see something scary and drop a shoulder and spin and run away. Some horses stop all of a sudden, and there you are, head over heels and sitting on the ground. I had a horse rear so high once that I just slid down over her tail and landed in the grass easy as you please, watching her run back to the barn. I started riding when I was three. I started training horses for my dad when I was eight. I wasn't the only one--my brother, Danny, was thirteen at the time, and he did most of the riding (Kid's Horse for Sale), but I'm the only one now.

Which is not to say that there aren't good horses and fun horses. I ride plenty of those, too. But they don't last, because Daddy turns those over fast. I had one a year ago, a sweet bay mare. We got her because her owner had died and Daddy picked her up for a song from the bank. I rode her every day, and she never put a foot wrong. Her lope was as easy as flying. One of the days she was with us, I had a twenty-four-hour virus, so when I went out to ride, I tacked her up and took her down to the crick at the bottom of the pasture, out of sight of the house.

I knew Daddy had to go into town and would be gone for the afternoon, so when I got down there, I just took off the saddle and hung it over a tree limb, and the bridle, too, and I lay down in the grass and fell asleep. I knew she would graze, and she did for a while, I suppose. But when I woke up (and feeling much better, thank you), there she was, curled up next to me like a dog, kind of pressed against me but sweet and large and soft. I lay there feeling how warm she was and smelling her fragrance, and I thought, I never heard of this before. I don't know why she did that, but now when Daddy tells me that horses only know two things, the carrot and the stick, and not to fill my head with silly ideas about them, I just remember that mare (she had a star shaped like a triangle and a little snip down by her left nostril). We sold her for a nice piece of change within a month, and I wish I knew where she was.

But Daddy names all the mares Jewel and all the geldings George, and I can hardly remember which was which after a while.

The particular George who bucked me off had a hard mouth. I did the best I could with him for another twenty minutes, but Daddy said that probably he was going to have to get on him himself, which meant that we weren't going to turn this one over fast, because a little girl couldn't ride him yet. Which meant that Daddy was in bad mood for the rest of the day.

We took the George back up to the barn, and while Daddy threw out the hay, I brushed the George off. He didn't mind, but he didn't love it like some of them do. Then I picked out his feet and took him out and put him into one of the big corrals. We didn't keep horses in stalls unless we had to, because Daddy said that they did better outside anyway, and if you kept them in stalls, well, then, you spent your life cleaning stalls rather than riding. Was that what I wanted?

I always said, "No, Daddy," and he ruffled my hair.

In the winter, though, it bothered me to think of them huddled out in the rain, their tails into the wind and their heads down. Of course that was what horses were meant to do, and ours had heavy coats, but I would lie awake when it rained in the night, wishing for it to stop.

It was worse in Oklahoma.

Oklahoma was where we came from, where Daddy and Mom grew up and had Danny, then me. We moved to California in 1957, when I was four and a half. I could barely remember living there, though we went back once or twice a year to see my grandparents and buy some horses. In Oklahoma, there could be real rain, and real snow, and real ice. Daddy had seen a horse slide right down a hill once, just couldn't stop himself, went down like he was on skis and right over the edge of a crick, fell on the ice, and had to be pulled out with a tractor. Couldn't be saved. At least in California we didn't have ice.


From the Hardcover edition.

Continues...
Excerpted from The Georges and the Jewels by Jane Smiley Copyright © 2009 by Jane Smiley. Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating 4
( 33 )

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  • Posted October 14, 2010

    more from this reviewer

    Reviewed by hoopsielv for Teens Read Too

    Abby is one busy seventh grader. Between school, church, and her family's ranch, there is little time for much else. Abby can't remember much about her life before the horses that her family raise, train, and then sell. The mares are all named Jewel, and the geldings are called George. Her dad feels that if they each had individual names, it would seem like they are going to stay permanently. Still, Abby can't help giving some of them special names. Jack is an unexpected colt whose mother died shortly after his birth. Abby immediately feels a connection to him and wants to do all she can to ensure his survival. Then there's Ornery George, who just can't seem to be tamed. Abby's father doesn't understand her fears and wants her to show this horse who's the boss. With a stranger's help, can Abby make this horse into a gentle giant? Each chapter in this novel features illustrations relating to horses. This was an excellent tale set in the 1960's. Anyone interested in horses and ranch life would enjoy it, and it's also appealing to others, as well.

    2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted May 25, 2010

    I Also Recommend:

    More than a horse book

    Abby lives with her parents and an ever changing group of horses and ponies: the Georges (geldings) and the Jewels (fillies/mares).....thus named by Abby's father so they won't get attached to them, as they're trainers/dealers so the animals are all just passing through.

    Abby isn't your typical "girl wants a pony" character, or even a "lets get into the horse dealing business" girl: she's been training horses for her father since she was 8 years old. Her father has, in general, a good eye for the diamond in the rough: he buys some pretty ratty looking horses very cheaply from Oklahoma, trucks them to California, after they're trained and fattened up, they're sold for a nice profit. Abby loves riding and training, and is generally happy to see the formerly neglected animals, now filled out, their hooves tended to, and any behavioral/training issues sorted out, go on to good homes.

    Sounds like a mushy happy love fest, doesn't it? Well, nothing is ever black and white. A few big problems confront Abby....her dad has perhaps made a rare mistake in buying the gelding she thinks of as Ornery George, a mistake he isn't going to admit making any time soon. He's also not going to be backing down in the fight he had with Abby's older brother Danny, which prompted Danny to move out of the house, drop out of school and go to work. Danny's not backing down either, all of which leaves Abby shouldering more and more of the training responsibities. And then there is school, where a friend of a friend and the school's Big Four are in a knock down-drag out fight (over a boy Abby considers to be about the most boring human being she's ever met, which unfortunately doesn't mean she isn't going to get caught in the cross-fire). Last, but surprisingly least, are the smaller conflicts springing from Abby's parent's Evangelical faith and the modern (the book is set in the 1960s) world.

    This book has more detail on training (the good, the bad and the ugly) than any other work of fiction (adult or children's) that I've ever come across. It's got horses and a great jumping pony and a foal, and a girl who rides very well indeed. And yet, I don't know that you could call it a horse book at all. It's a slice of life for one thing: a bit of a girl's life...with very few black and white issues, and many shades of gray.

    If I had to boil it down to just one thing, I'd say it's about conflict: whenever you let something..a difference of opinion, incompatible personalities, individuals with different goals...boil up into open conflict - a real fight - you may have winners, you will definitely have losers, and beyond doubt you will have wide gulfs between combatants that are difficult, even impossible, to bridge.

    Worth checking out, especially if you're looking for a "think piece".

    2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted February 4, 2012

    Great book!

    This book is absolutley amazing! It is so touching, but not the mushy love story kind of book.

    This book is great for kids, but does have some bigger vocabulary words that they might not understand.

    All in all, its a great book! Thanks, Jane Smiley!

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted January 1, 2012

    AWESOME BOOK!!!!

    This is an awesome book about a girls problems, learning about horses, and a sliver of real life drama. An amazing read!

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  • Posted October 7, 2011

    Best book

    I love this book so mush when the school bell rong to put the book away i didn't want too.

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  • Posted June 30, 2011

    I love it

    Tis is the best boook eva

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  • Posted February 25, 2011

    i love this book!

    its a wonderful book 2ll have and it u more about horses

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  • Posted February 15, 2011

    booooooooo

    don't buy this piece of crap

    0 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted February 6, 2010

    book

    great book!

    0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted November 15, 2009

    Trotted through The Georges and the Jewels

    The book, The Georges and the Jewels, was an okay good book about horse training from a kid's perspective; however, I thought the story was a little weak in threading the main character's personal and emotional struggles. I found it a bit slow and predictable.

    The book was about a girl whose family was in the business of breaking in horses and selling them. The main character, Abbey Lovitt, is a seventh grader who is dealing with school conflicts; but, spends most of her time focused on training horses for her dad to sell.

    The book begins with recalling the tension and conflict between her father and brother. The son leaves the house abruptly and she is only one kid left to train the horses. While she is a good horse trainer, she finds one particular horse stubborn and intimidating. She is uncertain of herself and gets assistance by a gentleman whose character is much like the horse whisperer.

    Abby learns another way to communicate and train the horses, that allows she and her father to become more effective in the horse business.

    I wished I would have seen more written on the relationships between her peers, her family or more of what she was thinking from her perspective.

    It's a good light read. I wouldn't say I would tell someone to rush out and read it.

    0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted November 11, 2009

    You won't be Disappointed!

    This is a fabulous book! I love that at the beginning of each chapter, there are pieces of horse tack and equipment illustrated and labeled - very educational! Also, the plot is not nearly as predictable as most other horsey-books out there today! This will be a book to keep from generation to generation!

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