Racing Manhattan [Hardcover]

In a cheering and relatable story of adversity overcome, an outcast teen coaxes a defiant Thoroughbred back into the thrill of competition.

Alone in the world, Jay Barton is a teenage misfit with nothing much going for her besides an extraordinary talent for understanding racehorses and riding them like a pro. When, in a desperate attempt to escape her shifty, opportunistic uncle, she leaves home to work in a racing stable, Jay forms a bond with a beautiful gray mare named Manhattan — brilliant, misunderstood, dangerous, and heading for racing's scrap heap. Recognizing a fellow misfit, Jay fights to give Manhattan one last opportunity to show that she’s the champion she was born to be. Together they face a world of prejudice and cruelty, fighting back the only way they know how — by becoming the best.The story is told through Jay’s first-person narration. Her stubborn persistence and the realistic details of life in a racing barn take this a notch above most horse books.
—Kirkus Reviews

Bold Jay will be a favorite with readers, who are sure to cheer her on. Details of horses and racing abound in Blacker’s novel, making readers visualize themselves on the racetrack with Jay. This fresh read is exciting, distinctive, and due to entice many young readers.
—Booklist

Fraught, exciting and cathartic, “Racing Manhattan” will have readers ages 12-16 cheering in the stands.
—The Wall Street Journal

Blacker does a marvelous job sketching out this suspenseful tale of a teenage girl striking out on her own and finding surprising allies
—Buffalo NewsTerence Blackeris the author ofThe Twyningand other novels for young adults. Before he became a writer, he rode as an amateur steeplechase jockey. He lives in the U.K.US