Dark Horses

A “sweeping and raw story of courage, resilience, and clear-eyed grace” (Sara Gruen, #1 New York Times bestselling author) about a teenage girl’s fierce struggle to reclaim her life from her abusive father in the vein of My Absolute Darling and Room. Fifteen-year-old equestrian prodigy Roan Montgomery has only ever known two worlds: inside the riding arena, and outside of it. Both, for as long as she can remember, have been ruled by her father, who demands strict obedience in all areas of her life. The warped power dynamic of coach and rider extends far beyond the stables, and Roan’s relationship with her father has long been inappropriate. She has been able to compartmentalize that dark aspect of her life, ruthlessly focusing on her ambitions as a rider heading for the Olympics, just as her father had done. However, her developing relationship with Will Howard, a boy her own age, broadens the scope of her vision. “[A] heart-pounding, can’t-take-your-eyes-off-it debut novel” (O, The Oprah Magazine), Dark Horses explores the themes of abuse and resilience in a way that will leave you transfixed. This is “a provoking and needed book” (Booklist, starred review).

The iconic author of Gossip Girl brings a dark and heart-wrenching addition to the girl-meets-horse canon. In the lens of addiction and the long road to recovery, this is a contemporary update to Black Beauty. Merritt Wenner has been adrift ever since the untimely death of her grandmother. After skipping out on the SATs to go on a bender, she wakes up to discover that her absentee parents have committed her to Good Fences, a residential equine-assisted therapy program. Red, a thoroughbred racing reject, is a terror in the barn. He’s never felt an attachment to anyone . . . until he meets Merritt. They belong together. Soon they’re sneaking off for late-night rides, which is strictly against the rules. Their talent does not go unnoticed. Sprung from Good Fences by the facility’s mysterious benefactor, Merritt and Red plunge into the competitive equestrian circuit—with all its seductive glamour and twisted jealousies. After a tragic incident, Merritt must choose between the boy she’s fallen for and the horse she loves.

For generations, we've been stuck with a cookie-cutter mold for success that requires us to be the same as everyone else, only better. This "standard formula" works for some people but leaves most of us feeling disengaged and frustrated. As much as we might dislike the standard formula, it seems like there's no other practical path to financial security and a fulfilling life. But what if there is? In the Dark Horse Project at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, bestselling author and acclaimed thought leader Todd Rose and neuroscientist Ogi Ogas studied women and men who achieved impressive success even though nobody saw them coming. Dark horses blaze their own trail to a life of happiness and prosperity. Yet what is so remarkable is that hidden inside their seemingly one-of-a-kind journeys are practical principles for achieving success that work for anyone, no matter who you are or what you hope to achieve. This mold-breaking approach doesn't depend on you SAT scores, who you know, or how much money you have. The secret is a mindset that can be expressed in plain English: Harness your individuality in the pursuit of fulfillment to achieve excellence. In Dark Horse, Rose and Ogas show how the four elements of the dark horse mindset empower you to consistently make the right choices that fit your unique interests, abilities, and circumstances and will guide you to a life of passion, purpose, and achievement.

SOUTH-OF-THE-BORDER SHOWDOWN Trouble follows horse trader Will Summers as soon as he sets foot in Dark Horses, Mexico. A party of men is intent on hanging Summers, believing him to be a horse thief, but not before they take him to their boss—Ansil Swann, the very man Summers is delivering four horses to. Will is saved from the hangman’s noose when the men are waylaid by Ansil’s beautiful wife, Bailey. Only Bailey has an agenda of her own, one that lands Will right in the middle of a deadly shootout. Now, in a lawless land where anything goes, Will’s gunslinging skills are put to the test—and if he’s not careful, he may never make it back across the border alive….

Set against the charms and vicissitudes of growing up in a family of musicians, Jodie Hollander’s beautifully-structured and compelling debut follows the story of a daughter’s maturing relationship with her mother.

Poets discuss forgotten favorites

Strategic design is about applying the principles of traditional design to "big picture" systemic challenges such as healthcare, education and the environment. It redefines how problems are approached and aims to deliver more resilient solutions. In this short book, Dan Hill outlines a new vocabulary of design, one that needs to be smuggled into the upper echelons of power. He asserts that, increasingly, effective design means engaging with the messy politics - the "dark matter" - taking place above the designer's head. And that may mean redesigning the organisation that hires you.

In Dark Horses prize-winning poet X. J. Kennedy gathers forty-two new poems rich in sound and sense. All display uncommon skill and an ability to treat matters both timeless and contemporary. From the lighhearted ballad "Dancing with the Poets at Piggy's" to the darkly meditative lyric "The Waterbury Cross," the poems show Kennedy's wide range. There are intimate portraits of a woman veterinarian and a young man dying of AIDS, a song about the Sri Lankan festival of Buddha's tooth, and a stark account of a confrontation with a homeless panhandler. "Emily Dickinson Leaves a Message to the World" on the newly installed answering machine in her Amherst homestead. Finding a "Woodpile Skull" — the severed head of a black ant — makes the poet laugh at his own expense as he plays "ham Hamlet to a formic Yorick." Enlivened by X. J. Kennedy's sardonic humor, wit, and insight into the human condition, the "dark horses" of this newest collection represent the finely crafted work of one of America's best-known and most widely respected poets.