Pony

1

It was my bout with lightning that inspired Pa to become immersed in the photographic sciences, which is how this all began. 

Pa had always had a natural curiosity about photography, having come from Scotland, where such arts flourish. He dabbled in daguerreotypes for a short while after settling in Ohio, a region naturally full of salt springs (from which comes the agent bromine, an essential component of the developing process). But daguerreotypes were an expensive enterprise that turned very little profit, and Pa did not have the means to pursue it. People haven t the money for delicate souvenirs, he reasoned. Which is why he became a boot-maker. People always have a need for boots, he said. Pa s specialty was the calf-high Wellington in grain leather, to which he added a secret compartment in the heel for the storing of tobacco or a pocketknife. This convenience was greatly desired by customers, so we got by pretty well on those boot orders. Pa worked in the shed next to the barn, and once a month traveled to Boneville with a cartful of boots pulled by Mule, our mule. 

But after lightning imprinted my back with the image of the oak tree, Pa once again turned his attention to the science of photography. It was his belief that the image on my skin had come there as a consequence of the same chemical reactions at play in photography. The human body, he told me as I watched him mixing chemicals that smelled of rotten eggs and cider vinegar, is a vessel full of the same mysterious substances, subject to the same physical laws, as everything else in the universe. If an image can be preserved by the action of light upon your body, it can be preserved by the same action upon paper. That is why it was not daguerreotypes that drew his interest anymore, but a new form of photography involving paper soaked in a solution of iron and salt, to which is transferred, by means of sunlight, a positive image from a glass

R. J. Palacio

Praise for PONY:

"Perfection." The Wall Street Journal

"R.J. Palacio, author of a modern classic children s book of our era, has somehow crafted what feels like an entirely different breed of classic: page-turning and heart expanding, elegiac and adventurous, reminiscent of Jack London, with mediations on love and faith that feel timeless and utterly necessary to our current moment." Gayle Forman, author of If I Stay and Frankie & Bug

A magical story Pony is pure delight. Rebecca Stead, Newbery Medal winning author of When You Reach Me
 
A mystery, a frontier adventure, a ghost story: Pony tells the tale of a child with fire in his mind, and it will light a fire in yours. R. J. Palacio s most ambitious book yet, it is as compelling as it is satisfying. Adam Gidwitz, Newbery Honor winning author of The Inquisitor s Tale
 
Once you open Pony, R.J. Palacio s astonishing new novel, your life will no longer be your own. From the first pages, I fell under the thrall of the remarkable Silas, a boy as wise as he is brave. . . . An utterly absorbing, beautifully written book. Margot Livesey, author of Eva Moves the Furniture and The Boy in the Field

Pure joy, a rip-roaring adventure told by a master storyteller. You won t be able to turn the pages fast enough. Josh Radnor
 
  A story full of fantastical characters with fantastical circumstances. R.J. Palacio deftly communicates that we are ALL on our own unique journey, and that what binds us together is always stronger and more important than what tears us apart.  
Jared Padalecki

This book blew me away. It is one of the best 2021 books that I have read. I can t stop thinking about it. Colby Sharp, Fifth Grade Teacher; Founder of Nerdy Book Club blog; Co-host of The Yarn podcast
 
I feel like I just read a symphony, a melody I d never heard before, but my heart somehow remembered.