Daniel Margate lives in north London, and he and his little brother don’t have much to play with, so they invent a racehorse game. A real stray horse arrives during a severe storm, and Daniel finds him while volunteering with a pet rescue… the STORM HORSE was probably drawn to the scent of hay and straw. Jammie Dodger, as he gets named after a jam sweet biscuit, helps dyslexic kid Daniel to relax and feel braver. But as you can imagine, a horse has to be kept secret, especially from local bully gangs.
Daniel has more problems. His school has accidentally picked him on the team for a major race – he can’t run to save his life – and on a reading team for a Big Read Off, both of which will be televised for a local TV reality show. And in case you’ve forgotten, Daniel has dyslexia, and we get to find out what that is like for him. His group for slow readers consists of Molly-May, who is bright but whose family depend on a food bank, Akin Ojo who appears to have ADHD although it is not named, and Ste Gordon, who survived a car accident and is relearning how to live. They form a Secret Horse Society.
That would be plenty to go on with, but we also find that the 1930s racehorse Seabiscuit means something special to this kid from the Beckham Estate. He has a box of letters inherited from his great-grandfather, Cuthbert H. Brown Jr, who watched this American icon run races and pinned his family’s fortunes to the small horse’s unusual success. He cheered the jockey Red Pollard, as a child during the Great Depression, and wrote his thoughts in letters to Seabiscuit. I guessed of course why Daniel still has the letters, perhaps kids will guess too.
The exciting and sometimes funny tale contains modern parallels with the effect that joblessness and homelessness had on people’s lives. This is a great way to let kids reflect on how people might be living today, including kids from such families. I found the story feels long for a book for eleven to twelve-year-olds, which would be Daniel’s age. Even though one of the better characters is an older Jamaican lad Michael, known as Prof because he is an assistant teacher working on science, I think the plot would feel less padded without his science projects to keep track of too. There’s just too many people to be concerned about in a quite complicated situation. I like the several diversities we meet, and I think the story will be an education in itself. STORM HORSE is by author Jane Elson, who tells us she has first-hand experience of dyslexia. Young readers can follow the examples of kindness, teamwork and inspired thinking shown, and Jane Elson has more books they can devour when they finish Jammie Dodger, sorry, Storm Horse.
When a mystery horse gallops on to a London housing estate in the middle of a storm, it will change four kids' lives for ever ... A heart-warming tale that celebrates neurodiversity and the power of alternative thinking from an author known for her honest, heartfelt and inclusive stories. Perfect for fans of Carlie Sorosiak and Michael Morpurgo.
For Daniel Margate, life is muddled because everything moves: letters, numbers, even classrooms sometimes. Daniel is dyslexic and most of the time, school just doesn't make sense. He's in the bottom reading group at school with other kids who are trying to make sense of it all. There's Akin who can't sit still for more than two minutes and is almost always getting into trouble, sports star Ste is recovering from a car accident that left him learning how to walk again and Molly-May's school uniform never fits and is a regular at the local foodbank.
But when a mystery horse gallops into their lives one stormy evening, it changes everything. Desperate to keep him safe they form the Secret Horse Society and vow to protect this amazing creature. Inspired by stories of the great racehorse Seabiscuit, they name him Jammie Dodger and find they when they work together, nothing seems impossible. Even the Big Read Off at school. They just need to keep their new horse friend a secret.
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