Gabriel's+Triumph

Gabriel's Triumph by Alison Hart Reviewed by Amelia 1-22-012 __Gabriel's Triumph__ by Alison Hart is the second book in the Racing to Freedom Trilogy. For this one, I recommend a horsey person who likes history. The genre is historical fiction. Again, this story is told through Gabriel's eyes. I like the same characters from the last book- Jackson, Gabriel, Gabriel's family, Mister Giles, and Aristo. Aristo just happens to be the fastest horse in the whole of the U.S.- and Mister Giles wants to tell the whole world just that. So he decides to take the stallion to the Saratoga Chase. With Gabriel as his jockey. But his mom is going to Camp Nelson to join Gabriel's pa as a wash woman. (A wash woman does the laundry.) Mister Giles hired a new trainer, who just happens to be from Saratoga and insists on a brick house, not a wood one, with glass windows, a high salary, and two days off a week. Gabriel's suspicions about the new trainer are correct- Jackson is coming back! This time, as Woodville Farm's trainer. Gabriel is very excited, and he decides to go to Saratoga to race Aristo before he leaves to join his mom and dad at Camp Nelson as a horse trainer, working with his dad to help the slaves to freedom. (Gabriel became free in the first book, after saving all of Mister Gile's horse from One- Arm, particularly Aristo.) Gabriel has heard that in the North, black men, slave or free, are treated with the same degree of respect that a white man is. Unfortunately, this proves untrue- the North has its own kind of racism. As Gabriel battles with problems that overcome his trip to Saratoga (including a barn fire), he realizes just how badly people treat each other (black or white), and what he can do to help fix it. Read the book to find out what happens! Cobra Reviews of Page-Turners home