Nochi Come Back!

About the Book

Mark, an adolescent boy, lives on a ranch in Wyoming. He has a black thoroughbred horse named Nochi. The horse has been in Mark's life from age two years old.

Nochi is a racehorse and is entered in the County Fair. Conflict in the story is usually between Mark and Nochi, and nature. Loyalty and companionship between these two main characters is evident as the story progresses through a period of about one year. Mark is fun loving, yet serious and devoted. Both Mark and Nochi are survivors. Together they overcome many hurdles. Three especially exciting episodes are when Nochi runs away during a severe thunder and lightning storm, Nochi is injured when the barn burns down, and Mark and Nochi get lost in a Wyoming blizzard during a hunting trip in the mountains. Mark has a girlfriend who is also entering her horse in the race. Both of them love both horses and are friendly and go on a first date. Nochi becomes a father. They call the new colt Sapphire. Mark encounters problems in school because of his depression over losing Nochi. Eventually Nochi is found at the backside of a neighbor's farm. He is badly injured and Mark refuses to leave his horse's side. Mark's sister, Kati is a pest but they enjoy spending time at the swimming-hole day-dreaming and basking in the sun.

Mark has integrity, respect for his parents, love for all farm animals, and is very upset when stray dogs kill many of the family's sheep.

I have attempted to effectively weave humor and poignancy throughout the story. The ideas for the book came from the sixteen years I spent on the ranch as wife, mother and companion to my daughter, four boys and their horses.

About the Author

My background includes a B.A. degree in Elementary Education from Northeastern University, Tahlequah, Oklahoma. I continued school to obtain a Masters in Social Science and Psychology. I completed a year of study with the Institute of Children's Literature. I was a teacher of children grades one through eight for the past 20 years. Having worked with hundreds of students in remedial and gifted classes, I am familiar with the types of stories that are enjoyable to young people. During the writing of Nochi, I tried to keep in mind some of the books that were favorites during oral and library reading sessions.

I believe Nochi Come Back! has much of the down to earth, emotional material that children love and relate to. Subject matter for the book was drawn from the sixteen years I spent while raising four sons and a daughter.