1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Stiefvater, Maggie. (2011). The Scorpio Races. New York: Scholastic Press. ISBN 978-0-545-22490-1
Stiefvater, Maggie. (2011). The Scorpio Races. New York: Scholastic Press. ISBN 978-0-545-22490-1
2. PLOT SUMMARY
The Scorpio Races is like The Black Stallion meets The Hunger Games. The horses in this race are not your average horses, but capaill uisce: wild, unpredictable, and savage, drawn in from the sea. They are incredibly fast if you can control them, deadly if you cannot. Sean Kendrick has ridden Corr to four consecutive victories, and is desperate to win another to keep his beloved capall. Puck (Kate) Connally’s parents were killed by capaill uisce. Desperate to keep her family together in the face of mounting debts, she enters Dove, an untrained farm horse, though no female or regular horse has ever been allowed to compete. Sean and Puck become unexpected training partners, each fighting to make it to the finish line alive.
The Scorpio Races is like The Black Stallion meets The Hunger Games. The horses in this race are not your average horses, but capaill uisce: wild, unpredictable, and savage, drawn in from the sea. They are incredibly fast if you can control them, deadly if you cannot. Sean Kendrick has ridden Corr to four consecutive victories, and is desperate to win another to keep his beloved capall. Puck (Kate) Connally’s parents were killed by capaill uisce. Desperate to keep her family together in the face of mounting debts, she enters Dove, an untrained farm horse, though no female or regular horse has ever been allowed to compete. Sean and Puck become unexpected training partners, each fighting to make it to the finish line alive.
3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
The annual Scorpio Races take place on a thin strip of sand between cliffs and ocean. The inhabitants of Thisby live their lives around the paradox of the capaill uisce, beautiful and dangerous, a significant source of income from tourists who come for the annual race juxtaposed with the loss of friends and loved ones in the races or when wild capaill come ashore. There is an air of religion surrounding the capaill, with festivals, rituals, and sacrifices. The capaill are like gods, who are at once revered and feared. The races are a way to symbolically control of a force of nature that the people of Thisby know they can never truly control.
The annual Scorpio Races take place on a thin strip of sand between cliffs and ocean. The inhabitants of Thisby live their lives around the paradox of the capaill uisce, beautiful and dangerous, a significant source of income from tourists who come for the annual race juxtaposed with the loss of friends and loved ones in the races or when wild capaill come ashore. There is an air of religion surrounding the capaill, with festivals, rituals, and sacrifices. The capaill are like gods, who are at once revered and feared. The races are a way to symbolically control of a force of nature that the people of Thisby know they can never truly control.
Stiefvater does not give a location for Thisby, but the cold
ocean water, rain, and a few British terms like mum seem to place it near the United Kingdom. Puck’s red hair and a
brother named Finn fit. The phrase capaill
uisce somehow felt Celtic, Welsh, or Irish. It is not until the author’s
note at the end of the book that she discusses the real origins of her capaill in the myths of the Isle of Man,
Ireland, and Scotland.
Stiefvater’s world is low fantasy: there are bicycles, cars,
hot chocolate, and Christmas lights (but no mention of telephones or computers).
Tourists come from America for the race. Puck’s older brother dreams of a
better job on the mainland. The real and fantasy elements fit together in a
believable way. Aside from the mythical capaill,
life on Thisby could be that of any island, with close-knit communities driven
by fishing. Stiefvater paints a picture of the landscape, the homes, and shops,
giving enough detail for the reader to create a mental image.
The island is rugged, and so are its inhabitants. There is a
stubborn streak that seems to run through them, trained in by persevering
against a difficult life. Stiefvater has created a cast of characters filled
with quirks and foibles, a net of relationships, and humor. Puck’s younger
brother is a worrier who loves tinkering with engines and has a keen weather
sense. Her older brother feels the burden of providing for his siblings after
their parents’ death, convinced that the only way to help is to leave. Puck’s
unofficial extended family is made up of three sisters who own a gift shop and
are more than a bit eccentric. Benjamin Malvern, a shrewd businessman, runs a
stable that brings in buyers from around the world. He “owns” the island, and he
owns Puck through the unpaid mortgage and Sean through Corr. His son has no
sense about horses, and rankles at the authority his father has given Sean at
the stables. George Holly, the preposterously-dressed American horse buyer,
quickly comes to respect Sean as well. Sean has an understanding of both horses
and capaill that no one can match, not
even Benjamin Malvern, and everyone knows it.
The characters who carry the story, though, are Puck and
Sean. They are honest characters with strengths and faults. Because the story
is told from the alternating perspectives of Puck and Sean, the reader gets a
balanced look into its events. Dialog between characters provides background
information and moves the plot forward, but it is the narration that takes the
reader to the heart of the story. Puck is terrified of losing her home, her
brother, and her horse, terrified of riding in the race. Still mourning the
loss of her parents, she struggles to keep life normal, and she thinks winning
the race is the only way out. She puts on a brave face, but underneath is
insecure and doesn’t feel prepared to take on the responsibilities that life
has given her.
Circumstances have thrust her together with Sean, whom she
initially finds hard, emotionless, and daunting. Through his narration, though,
Sean reveals a deeper, more intuitive spirit. He shares his love of Corr and
how he could give up everything else. Though he admits his control of horses
and capaill is part unswerving attention,
the reader sees that there is an unexplained, almost mystical, way that he
communicates with them. He conveys profound insight into his relationship with
Benjamin Malvern. At first, he considers Puck an intruder and a danger due to
her inexperience with capaill. But
she turns his life upside down, haunts his thoughts, and makes him think there might
be more than winning. Sean comes to respect Puck’s own way with horses. They
discover they complement each other, and don’t have to explain their love of
horses or the island that so many try to escape.
Though the story is based in myth, real world issues ground
the story in ways readers will relate to: the importance of family, prejudice, perseverance,
doing what’s right, and the fear of letting yourself be vulnerable. Is it
a weakness or a strength to confide your fears and accept help? The reader will
want both Puck and Sean to win because both have compelling motives to race. This
is not a happy story, per se. There
are moments of terror, mourning, shock, bloodshed, and death. But countering
that are the support of people who care, fighting not to give up, and clinging
to hope that things will work out. The ending is bittersweet: dreams are
realized and shattered, and there is loss mixed with a bond that refuses to be
broken.
4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S) AND AWARDS
Michael L. Printz
Award Honor book, 2012
Mythopoeic
Fantasy Award for Children's Literature Finalist, 2012
Los Angeles Times Book Prize Finalist,
Young Adult Literature, 2011
ALA Notable
Children's Books, 2012
YALSA Best
Fiction for Young Adults, 2012
YALSA Teens' Top
Ten, 2012
BookList Top 10 SF/Fantasy for Youth,
2012
Horn Book Fanfare, 2011
Kirkus Best Young Adult Books, 2011
School Library Journal Best Books, 2011
New York Times Notable Children's Books, 2011
NPR Top 5 YA
Novels, 2011
Publishers Weekly Best Children's Books,
2011
Amazon Editors'
Picks: Top 10 Books, 2011
National Council of
the Teachers of English’s Notable Children’s Books in the Language Arts, 2012
Texas Tayshas
High School Reading List, Top ten title, 2013
H.W. Wilson’s Middle and Junior High Core Collection,
most highly recommended
Publishers Weekly: “Stiefvater’s narration is as much about atmospherics as it is about event, and the water horses are the environment in which Sean and Puck move, allies and rivals to the end. It’s not a feel-good story—dread, loss, and hard choices are the islanders’ lot. As a study of courage and loyalty tested, however, it is an utterly compelling read.”
Children's Literature: “This riveting and suspenseful story expertly weaves myth with reality. . . Suspenseful, compelling, wonderful visual descriptions with strong characters make this book hard to put down.”
Kirkus: “. . . [A] taut, chilling, romantic adventure. . . First-person narration alternates seamlessly between Sean and Puck. The large cast of supporting characters springs to life. . . and Thisby feels like a place you can see and smell. The water horses are breathtakingly well-imagined, glorious and untamably violent. The final race, with Sean and Puck each protecting each other but both determined to win, comes to a pitch-perfect conclusion. Masterful.”
The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books: “. . . Stiefvater does a masterful job in creating an immersive world with well-developed traditions, history, prejudices, and complex social relations. The book credibly depicts the subtle tensions of a developing romance between two stubborn and taciturn people with a multitude of concerns. . . [A] story whose mythic dimensions stand easily with its more quotidian ones, thus embodying the tensions between the water horses and their humans.”
Horn Book: “Celtic legends about vicious, flesh-eating fairy horses underpin this brilliant novel: a fantasy with a vividly and realistically evoked island setting, rich in sensory detail; a thriller that’s also a love story. The alternating voices of Sean and Kate, both desperate to win Thisby’s deadly annual horse race, combine to take readers on an unforgettable, exhilarating ride.”
School Library Journal: “. . . [T]he annual Scorpio
Races are both a celebration and a grotesque spectacle. . . While there is
plenty of action, conflict, excitement, and a heart-stopping climax, it is the
slowly developing relationship between Kate and Sean that makes the book
remarkable. Though different, they are both products of the island and have an
intense love for Thisby that is not shared by all of the residents. Stiefvater
makes readers care deeply for them, their desolate island, and even the
monstrous water horses. The author takes great liberties with the Celtic myth,
but the result is marvelous.”
5. CONNECTIONS
-
Visit Maggie Stiefvater’s website,
which has photos, an FAQ section, and a blog (hints: no Scorpio Races sequel,
but there may be a movie!):
Extras on the book’s page – background information on the
story and music!
-
Go to Scholastics Maggie Stiefvater
page for a bio and information on author visits (in-person and by Skype):
- Look through the discussion
questions or read one of the similar books listed at Scholastic:
- “Watch” an audiobook. Stiefvater has posted samples out
the audiobook set to photos she took while researching. You can see the
landscapes that inspired her descriptions.
- Watch a wordless, animated trailer created by Stiefvater. Try it before and
after the book. What can you predict about the book based on the trailer?
Having read the book, did the trailer capture it? www.youtube.com/watch?v=tojCn2Y41ig
- Offer other series by Stiefvater: The Raven Boys, Wolves of Mercy Falls, Shiver, and A Gathering of Faerie
- Offer other series by Stiefvater: The Raven Boys, Wolves of Mercy Falls, Shiver, and A Gathering of Faerie
- Explore more about Celtic mythical
creatures
Celtic mythology section at Encyclopedia Mythica (a great
resource!): http://www.pantheon.org/
- Chapters in this book are written
from alternating points of view. Select a chapter and rewrite it from the other
character’s perspective. What details would that person notice? What would
their thoughts and emotions be? What would the story gain by hearing that
perspective? What would be lost? How could that change the overall story? As an
added twist, take a chapter and rewrite it from one of the secondary
characters: Benjamin Malvern, Mutt, Finn, or George Holly, for example. What
would they have to say?
-
Read and evaluate some fan fiction
based on The Scorpio Races. Teacher previewing
would be advised to select appropriate stories for your group of students. Do
these stories fit with the original? Why or why not? What would you add to the
story?
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