The Shadow Pony

This lively story starts well and gets even better only to falter in the last few chapters. It features eleven-year-old Evan, possessor of Okie, an out of control rescue dog as loveable to him as she is infuriating to everyone else. His already brittle relationship with his busy, divorced would-be career mother is made even harder after the arrival of new boyfriend Nick and his daughter Melly. There is also some nasty bullying at school to put up with.

Evan’s most sustaining relationship is with Grandad, an ex-miner still living locally near the Welsh pit where he used to work. But things get tense here too once the old man’s wits start wandering. All this could make for a tough read, but the author writes well and cleverly allows her characters to grow and in time become more self-aware. More’s the pity, then, when a tight, compelling narrative finally descends into melodrama so unreal that even Enid Blyton may not have risked going for it.  Grandad lost down a defunct mine, Evan rescuing him despite his mortal fear of the dark, all sweetness and light at home in the final pages – its rather as if a good first course has been followed by the arrival of a dessert so over the top as to become almost sickly.

Olivia Wakeford’s first children’s story My Dog was picked out at the time as a highly promising debut. There is a lot going for this story too. Readers not over-fond of any sort of dog, let alone one like Okie capable of domestic destruction on an epic scale, may still find themselves at least understanding why this animal remains so important to his generally isolated young master. Genuine dog-lovers, on the other hand, will find much to enjoy.