First published 2022
Harry de Leyer spots something special in a beaten-down white horse heading for slaughter on a cold winter day. He pays eighty dollars for the animal and names him Snowman. On Harry's Long Island farm, the former plow horse flourishes under care. Financial pressures force Harry to sell Snowman to a nearby farm, but the horse has different plans. Snowman breaks free and returns home, dragging a tire and fence board behind him. Harry realizes he misjudged his horse completely. He begins training the shaggy, gentle animal for show jumping. Together, the Dutch immigrant and his unlikely mount face off against elite thoroughbreds and wealthy competitors. They climb through the ranks of the sport, show by show, defying every expectation. Their journey leads to Madison Square Garden in November 1958, where they compete in the National Horse Show. The pair captures the imagination of Cold War America with their improbable rise from obscurity to the pinnacle of equestrian sport.
Genres: animals, 20th-century, horses, biography-memoir
Vibes: emotional, inspirational, uplifting
Tropes: against-all-odds, rags-to-riches
Setting: Long Island, Madison Square Garden
Period: 1958
40 pages · Hardcover · Random House Books for Young Readers