Sara is driving down a country rode scouting areas for her junior class picnic when she spots a beautiful horse in a nearby pasture and stops to pet it. Seeing no one around she decides to hop on and go for a ride. Suddenly a dog runs up and Sara soon hears a man yelling at her from an approaching distance. Startled, the horse knocks Sara off and she falls into the soft grass unharmed.
As she lays there the man approaches, still bellowing at her, and she sees that he's not a man but a boy of her age. She closes her eyes because she is nervous about getting into trouble but also because she knows she won't be able to talk to him. Sara is shy but to such an extent that she becomes physically unable to speak to those she's not comfortable around.
The boy continues to yell and accuses her of pretending to be unconscious to make him carry her. He then threatens to take her car the way she took his horse. When he acts on this threat Sara jumps up in shock and indignation. She tries to get the horse to chase after him but Marmalade, her name for the horse, refuses to move.
The boy then comes back with a basket and tells her to come over and have some cookies and soda with him. Confused, Sara joins him and they sit in the car to eat. He introduces himself as Bart Hoffman and attempts to make conversation. Sara is able to say her name is Sara Thorne but not much else. Bart begins speaking in a soft voice which makes Sara assume he thinks her to be mentally disabled. This causes her to laugh and, thinking she's laughing at him, Bart tells her off before storming away.
On Monday morning Sara is having breakfast with Donna, her youthful sixty-something grandmother. Donna lives with Sara and Sara's mother in a third floor apartment. Sara's father is no longer living and the small family struggles financially.
Angie, Sara's best friend, arrives to walk to school together and she tells Sara she was at a party on Saturday night and Bart Hoffman, who is friends with Angie's boyfriend Hank, was there. He said he had met Sara and called her "odd". When her friend Liz hears about the incident with the horse and boy she suggests Sara should practice talking to the horse, pretending it's a person.
Sara and Angie drive over to the pasture together. Sara wants to ride Marmalade again and Angie wants to meet the attractive Bart Hoffman. The boy and girl are instantly flirtatious and take Sara's car for a ride while Sara rides the horse. After awhile she remembers the plan of practicing talking with Marmalade. She sits down against a fence and drowsily closes her eyes while talking.
Mr. Hoffman comes along and thinks Sara must have a head injury so picks her up. When she starts struggling he's sure she's looney and forceably carries her into his car. Bart and Angie show back up then and explain the situation thus saving Sara from being rushed to the hospital by Bart's dad.
Sara arrives home that night to a tense atmosphere among her mother and grandmother. Donna sits her down and tells her she is getting married and will be moving back to Kentucky. Sara is heartsick at the thought of her grandmother leaving but also completely mortified about the marriage, claiming Donna is too old to get married. Her departure will mean that Sara will have to take over household responsibilities which will ruin her plans to get a summer job and earn money for college.
The junior picnic arrives and takes place at the river on the Hoffman's land. Angie goes off with Bart but when Liz snags him away Angie gets into a terrible attitude and takes it out on Hank. When Sara sneaks off to ride Marmalade Hank follows and quickly spreads the story around school of Sara talking to a horse. This causes the boys to tease her and the girls to bully her.
The wedding day arrives for Donna and Mr. Hugh Jones. Don, as he asks Sara to call him, is a wealthy man and long time friend to Donna who Mrs. Thorne grew up around. Sara likes him immensely after meeting him and once Angie insists getting married in your 60s is romantic Sara no longer feels so embarrassed about it.
One afternoon while Sara walks home from the grocery store she stops at the drugstore for a drink. Bart's there and he asks her to sit down and have a bite to eat with him. He's understanding of Sara's shyness and offers to do the talking. Sara enjoys this impromptu date but feels sadden by the fact that Angie or Liz would be in her place if it was them who happened to walk into the drug store.
On Friday Sara and Angie are walking to school when a senior boy named Roge Spencer approaches them. He's interested in Sara and is trying to get an introduction but Sara wants nothing to do with him because he had teased her about the horse incident. The girls shake him and Hank pulls up. Angie accepts his offer for a ride to school but Sara, still mad at him, declines. Roge then catches up with her and the two walk to school together. Roge knows she's shy and doesn't pressure her to make conversation which Sara appreciates.
During the school day Hank approaches Sara in the hall and apologizes. He claims he didn't know people would tease her about the horse incident and says he took some great photos of her riding Marmalade. He says he'll give her some copies but when he asks her to show them around to people Sara feels he's up to something and tries to walk away. He grabs her by the hands and this is when Angie shows up and accuses them of being romantically involved behind her back and she breaks off her friendship with Sara.
On the weekend Sara goes to Bart's to visit Marmalade but finds Bart and a beautiful girl already riding him. The girl is Lottie, Bart's cousin, and Sara instantly feels inferior to her. She drives off in the car and pulls off to the side of the rode to cry over her loss of Donna, Angie, and now Marmalade.
As she lays there the man approaches, still bellowing at her, and she sees that he's not a man but a boy of her age. She closes her eyes because she is nervous about getting into trouble but also because she knows she won't be able to talk to him. Sara is shy but to such an extent that she becomes physically unable to speak to those she's not comfortable around.
The boy continues to yell and accuses her of pretending to be unconscious to make him carry her. He then threatens to take her car the way she took his horse. When he acts on this threat Sara jumps up in shock and indignation. She tries to get the horse to chase after him but Marmalade, her name for the horse, refuses to move.
The boy then comes back with a basket and tells her to come over and have some cookies and soda with him. Confused, Sara joins him and they sit in the car to eat. He introduces himself as Bart Hoffman and attempts to make conversation. Sara is able to say her name is Sara Thorne but not much else. Bart begins speaking in a soft voice which makes Sara assume he thinks her to be mentally disabled. This causes her to laugh and, thinking she's laughing at him, Bart tells her off before storming away.
On Monday morning Sara is having breakfast with Donna, her youthful sixty-something grandmother. Donna lives with Sara and Sara's mother in a third floor apartment. Sara's father is no longer living and the small family struggles financially.
Angie, Sara's best friend, arrives to walk to school together and she tells Sara she was at a party on Saturday night and Bart Hoffman, who is friends with Angie's boyfriend Hank, was there. He said he had met Sara and called her "odd". When her friend Liz hears about the incident with the horse and boy she suggests Sara should practice talking to the horse, pretending it's a person.
Sara and Angie drive over to the pasture together. Sara wants to ride Marmalade again and Angie wants to meet the attractive Bart Hoffman. The boy and girl are instantly flirtatious and take Sara's car for a ride while Sara rides the horse. After awhile she remembers the plan of practicing talking with Marmalade. She sits down against a fence and drowsily closes her eyes while talking.
Mr. Hoffman comes along and thinks Sara must have a head injury so picks her up. When she starts struggling he's sure she's looney and forceably carries her into his car. Bart and Angie show back up then and explain the situation thus saving Sara from being rushed to the hospital by Bart's dad.
Sara arrives home that night to a tense atmosphere among her mother and grandmother. Donna sits her down and tells her she is getting married and will be moving back to Kentucky. Sara is heartsick at the thought of her grandmother leaving but also completely mortified about the marriage, claiming Donna is too old to get married. Her departure will mean that Sara will have to take over household responsibilities which will ruin her plans to get a summer job and earn money for college.
The junior picnic arrives and takes place at the river on the Hoffman's land. Angie goes off with Bart but when Liz snags him away Angie gets into a terrible attitude and takes it out on Hank. When Sara sneaks off to ride Marmalade Hank follows and quickly spreads the story around school of Sara talking to a horse. This causes the boys to tease her and the girls to bully her.
The wedding day arrives for Donna and Mr. Hugh Jones. Don, as he asks Sara to call him, is a wealthy man and long time friend to Donna who Mrs. Thorne grew up around. Sara likes him immensely after meeting him and once Angie insists getting married in your 60s is romantic Sara no longer feels so embarrassed about it.
One afternoon while Sara walks home from the grocery store she stops at the drugstore for a drink. Bart's there and he asks her to sit down and have a bite to eat with him. He's understanding of Sara's shyness and offers to do the talking. Sara enjoys this impromptu date but feels sadden by the fact that Angie or Liz would be in her place if it was them who happened to walk into the drug store.
On Friday Sara and Angie are walking to school when a senior boy named Roge Spencer approaches them. He's interested in Sara and is trying to get an introduction but Sara wants nothing to do with him because he had teased her about the horse incident. The girls shake him and Hank pulls up. Angie accepts his offer for a ride to school but Sara, still mad at him, declines. Roge then catches up with her and the two walk to school together. Roge knows she's shy and doesn't pressure her to make conversation which Sara appreciates.
During the school day Hank approaches Sara in the hall and apologizes. He claims he didn't know people would tease her about the horse incident and says he took some great photos of her riding Marmalade. He says he'll give her some copies but when he asks her to show them around to people Sara feels he's up to something and tries to walk away. He grabs her by the hands and this is when Angie shows up and accuses them of being romantically involved behind her back and she breaks off her friendship with Sara.
On the weekend Sara goes to Bart's to visit Marmalade but finds Bart and a beautiful girl already riding him. The girl is Lottie, Bart's cousin, and Sara instantly feels inferior to her. She drives off in the car and pulls off to the side of the rode to cry over her loss of Donna, Angie, and now Marmalade.
When she tries to continue home the car won't start. A sinister man in a shiny black car stops and offers her a ride which she hesitantly accepts. The man believes Sara is a mute and claims he's only offering her a ride because his beloved little sister is a mute too.
At her direction he drops her off on a street in town just before a traffic light. When he stops at the red light he is immediately bombarded by policeman; the sinister stranger robbed a bank earlier that day and only stopped in town during his getaway because of Sara.
Sara goes to Angie's after school and begs to be friends again. Angie finally relents and informs Sara that Hank had submitted the pictures of her to the schools magazine along with an article about her talking to a horse to overcome her shyness. Sara is horrified and fears the bullying she will receive once the magazine comes out.
To try and turn the situation around Hank throws a party in Sara's honor and reads his article out loud. The article talks about Sara kindly and affectionately and both it and she are raved about. She is happy and enjoying her time until Liz pulls her aside.
At her direction he drops her off on a street in town just before a traffic light. When he stops at the red light he is immediately bombarded by policeman; the sinister stranger robbed a bank earlier that day and only stopped in town during his getaway because of Sara.
Sara goes to Angie's after school and begs to be friends again. Angie finally relents and informs Sara that Hank had submitted the pictures of her to the schools magazine along with an article about her talking to a horse to overcome her shyness. Sara is horrified and fears the bullying she will receive once the magazine comes out.
To try and turn the situation around Hank throws a party in Sara's honor and reads his article out loud. The article talks about Sara kindly and affectionately and both it and she are raved about. She is happy and enjoying her time until Liz pulls her aside.
Liz is furious that Sara is getting so much attention and tells her she is through being her friend unless Sara turns the attention over to her. Sara stresses about this until the next morning when a young man calls asking to interview her. She has Liz come over and lets her handle the interview thus putting Liz in the spotlight.
Summer vacation arrives and with the advice of Angie and Liz Sara decides to earn money by working as a sort of caterer helping women host luncheons. She makes a good amount of money doing this which she saves for college. When Donna invites her to visit her in Kentucky Sara declines saying she needs to keep working to earn money. This prompts Donna and Don to offer to pay for Sara's college. Once she gets news of this she runs over to Bart's to tell him and he asks her to date him.
- When Donna breaks the news that she's getting married Mrs. Thorne is standing in the living room and takes off her skirt and blouse...in the living room...for some reason. I found it really strange. Maybe if she took off her belt and untucked her shirt it would show exhaustion from the news but to undress like that is weird.
- Everyone makes fun of Sara for talking to the horse during the picnic but she didn't even say anything weird, just called to him and said like "hello beautiful boy, lets go for a ride". Like the kind of stuff you would say to a pet.
- Sara's mother is described as "plump" then "slim" a few chapters later.
- I have a hard time believing Angie would get so mad seeing Hank grabbing, not holding but grabbing, Sara's hands. Also Angie is constantly dating other guys, so what if Hank sees another girl. Not to mention Angie solely gets mad at Sara and not Hank.
- Liz is a TERRIBLE friend.
- It doesn't make sense that Sara can't have a job. If she can go to school and take care of the household then why can't she have a job once school is out?
- Once Donna leaves and Sara has to take over the cooking she learns to love it. She learns how to make Haap to Ghuy, a supposed Chinese dish but then that becomes all she makes. Once she starts catering her first client is Mrs. Hoffman and she wants to make a cheese soufflé for a luncheon but Sara says no, lets make Haap to Ghuy instead. It's a little hard to believe she can have a catering service with only one recipe.
Anyways I looked up Haap to Ghuy and found a surprising lack of search results. Only four results came up; three old newspapers and one book which simple says "Haap to Ghuy: fried chicken with pork and walnuts". Two of the newspapers were locked behind a paywall but the third was free and had a recipe so if anyone wishes to make Haap to Ghuy like Sara then here you go. Also this newspaper is from the 1970's and the other two were from the 1960's so I'm guessing this is simply an old trendy recipe and not a Chinese classic as the book makes out.
Source: The Sentinel
I do have to say that I don't think the writing was all that great and since I've read other books by this author I can't help but feel Kathleen was not using her full potential.
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