Mary Gaitskill’s newest book The Mare is a powerful story of an 11-year-old Dominican girl named Velvet. Gaitskill’s unique story covers Velvets progress as she overcomes hardships. Readers get to watch her transform from a child into a young woman through her interactions with horses. The story is told from four perspectives.

The first narrator, Velvet, describes her abusive and dangerous lifestyle. Velvet is from inner city Crown Heights, New York, the most threatening part of town. She often finds herself trying to steer clear of gangs of girls that she knows are dangerous who surround her community. Though Velvet is very intelligent she tends to not turn in homework to avoid drawing attention to herself. She is physically and verbally abused by her mother, Sylvia. Sylvia, our second author, herself was abused and fell into abusive relationships with men. Because of this, she used Velvet as a scapegoat. Velvet applies and is accepted into a program called Fresh Air where kids like Velvet, poor, living in bad situations, can go to live with couples who live in the country for two weeks so that they can get a chance to see another way of life. The third narrator, Ginger is an artist and a recovering alcoholic who lives in the country with her husband, our last author, Paul.  Paul is a loving teacher, but seems to have trouble with accepting the role that Ginger wants to play in Velvet’s life.

Gaitskill’s story is amazing because of her believable characters. The book’s characters are believable because of they are flawed and have many things that they’re dealing with besides their interactions with Velvet. Gaitskill’s coming-of-age story is perfect for young adults. The book provides teenagers with positively ways to overcome any obstacles that they’re faced with.