Review - Lean on Pete by Willy Vlautin

Lean on Pete by Willy Vlautin
Publisher: Harper Perennial 2010
Paperback 277 pages




Rarely do I read books about horses. Maybe it is my rejection of my rural upbringing and the horse crazed girls of my youth, but I have avoided horse books like Seabiscuit, Black Beauty and The Horse Whisperer like they were the plague. So when I saw that the author of Lean on Pete was going to appear at my local library I paid little attention to it. But then every librarian I knew kept telling me what an amazing novel it was and how the author had been so funny and engaging and that I just HAD to hear him speak that I decided that I had to give this little novel a chance. Now I am so happy that for this one instance I bowed to peer pressure and not only read a fantastic coming of age novel, but also had the gift to hear a truly gifted and insightful author speak about his work.

The story is not so much about a racehorse as it is about a boy struggling to define himself in a world where the odds are stacked against him. Raised by his father after his mother left them, fifteen-year-old Charley Thompson wants nothing more than to play football, have food on the table, and run. Living with his father's frequent absences, Charley learns that the only thing that he can rely on is the uncertainty of his life. Where he will get his next meal (often by stealing from grocery stores) and where he may end up is not written in stone. On one of his morning runs, Charley comes across a horse racing track where he meets a grizzled old man who hires him on to help care for his horses. For the first time in his life Charley is making his own money, and develops a friendship with a tired old racehorse named Lean On Pete. When tragic events leave Charley homeless and alone, Charley grows increasingly dependent on his relationship with the horse. When events at the racetrack come to a shocking head, Charley decides to head East in a desperate attempt to find his aunt whom he hasn't spoken to in years. In his travels Charley meets both the best and worst that humanity has to offer in an increasingly urgent bid to find his family.