Review: Susan Ketchen's Made That Way & Grows That Way
I do love this trilogy: Susan Ketchen’s Born that Way books first came my way last year when I read the
first of the series, Born That Way. Sylvia, Susan Ketchen’s heroine, is a brilliant creation.
She’s funny, observant, and absolutely devoid of self pity about her condition,
Turner’s Syndrome. It means she’s very small for her age, and she hasn’t hit
puberty yet, and won’t either unless she gets hormone treatment. The fact she
looks different makes her a target for the school bullies, but Sylvia tackles
this in the same way she does everything else: with a quirky resolve.
In many ways, she’s far more sorted out than her parents,
and quite a few of the other adults she comes across. As an adult, it’s quite
easy to forget that relationships are two-way: that your view of a child isn’t
all that matters. They have their own view, and oh goodness, does Sylvia have
her own views. I love the fact that we see where she doesn’t understand things,
and see how she works them out. I love her astuteness when it comes to other
people, particularly her parents.
Sylvia’s parents, as well as being thoroughly believable,
are great comic creations. Her therapist mother has a theory for everything
that happens to Sylvia, and she’s always, always, just slightly off beam. She
never really quite gets it right.
There’s one place where Sylvia’s condition doesn’t matter,
and that’s with horses. Horses don’t care how tall you are, or whether you’ve
hit puberty. Sylvia can ride, and she rides well, because she’s able to use her
gifts of understanding and observation with horses. In the next two books of
the trilogy, Sylvia gets a pony, Brooklyn. He’s a bit of a surprise offering.
Sylvia has no idea what he’s like, because her grandfather’s bought him and is
shipping him to her. When that horse trailer arrives, everyone gets a surprise,
because when Brooklyn turns up, to say he’s not every girl’s dream horse is a
bit of an understatement.
He too has his own way of doing things, and like Sylvia,
that’s because of his genetic inheritance. The last book sees Sylvia, and her
next horse Brooklyn II, getting to know each other. Brooklyn doesn’t care about
Sylvia’s hormones, but hormones of all kinds are an issue in the last of the
trilogy, Grows that Way. As well as
Sylvia’s need for oestrogen (estrogen), there is, quite literally, a lot of
testosterone about. We get to see what happens when you don’t have enough of
it, and what happens when you take too
much.
The last book, Grows that Way is a more fanciful read than
the earlier two books: it has the Sasquatch, for a start, which Sylvia finds
when she goes off for a solitary (and therefore not allowed) trail ride on her
horse, Brooklyn. Sylvia’s also coming to terms with her developing feelings for
her friend Logan, and his for her. I found the fanciful elements of the last book a bit of a
surprise, but as Sylvia tackles them the way she has everything else in her
life, it all sort of works.
I really can’t recommend these books highly enough: Sylvia
for me has entered the ranks of great horse and pony book creations like Jill
and Jinny. She is unforgettable.
~ 0 ~
Thank you to the
publisher for sending me these books
Susan Ketchen: Made That Way
Susan Ketchen: Grows That Way
Oolichan Books: Grows £7.79, Made £3.69
Kindle: Grows £6.18, Made £3.31
Kobo: Grows £5.75, Made £4.31*
Oolichan Books: Grows £7.79, Made £3.69
Kindle: Grows £6.18, Made £3.31
Kobo: Grows £5.75, Made £4.31*
* Prices correct at time of writing
Age of main character: 13, 14
Themes: puberty, testosterone abuse
Comments
SarahB