False Gods: The Show Jumper's Challenge

Teens

synopsis

Synopsis

Cory Iverson's junior year is off to a lousy start. Publicly humiliated by the school's hottest guy and terrorized by a bullying band director, Cory flees sports try-outs and just about everything else she begins, earning a reputation as a loser as well as a quitter. But when her wandering dog leads her to the barn of a former Grand Prix rider, she finds a welcome refuge in the familiar world of horses. It's not too long before she starts dreaming of showing in one of the country's most prestigious shows--a totally unrealistic hope--until she rescues a mysterious horse with some unusual talents. But her road to success is littered with roadblocks as events spin out of control: prescription painkillers appear in her mother's purse; her ballerina sister wastes away before her eyes; her boyfriend is keeping secrets; and her normally opinionated trainer becomes strangely evasive. Worst of all, the horse show world is not what she imagined. It isn't long before Cory's winning spree attracts the attention of a brutal trainer with a string of unexplained horse deaths in her wake. When Cory lands in the crosshairs, she has to decide if she'll once again back down and flee or stand up for herself, her horse, and her dreams.

bio

Author Biography

Inspired by everyday miracles, L.R. Trovillion weaves magical stories of hurting people who find hope through horses in her Maryland Equestrian Novel series. Although she earned a degree in Russian and spent a career in government service, her real love has been caring for and working with horses. That love shines through in her series, focusing on the healing power of horses in the lives of teens facing complex and sometimes dangerous family situations. Believing there is more to this world than meets the eye, she adds a dash of the supernatural to each story. L. R. Trovillion lives on a small horse farm in Maryland with her husband, daughter, and several animals that really run the place. Her other works have appeared in Baltimore magazine, Chicken Soup for the Soul, and various poetry anthologies.

website

Author Insight

When No One Believes You Were Assaulted

Cory encounters her mother the day after she narrowly escapes sexual assault at the hands of her mother's drunk boyfriend. Cory, searching for compassion and protection, is only met with disbelief, scoffing, and dismissal. How many women or teen girls have gone to their most trusted family members, teachers, coaches or clergy with their stories only to be told they were imagining it, they were making too big a deal out of it, or, worst of all, they were to blame. This excerpt captures one teen's stark realization that she cannot even rely on her own mother, another woman, to combat sexual harassment.

Book Excerpt

False Gods: The Show Jumper's Challenge

Cory opened her mouth to explain, to describe Kevyn as a good guy, to justify going out with him and being safe . . . safe! She wasn’t safe last night. No one cared that she was out all night. Cory recalled her mother’s dead-looking eyes, that watched her walk out of the house in the middle of the night and registered no concern whatsoever. She looked into the same eyes now, a mascara shadow beneath them. Despite the cool evening, a flush of heat burned like a flash fire up her neck and over her face. In the distance were the normal sounds of the neighborhood: kids riding their Big Wheels, the bounce of a basketball, a trash can lid being replaced. She noticed the thread of silver in the part of her mom’s hair where the color was growing out. She could smell the acrid scent of the boxwood shrubs lining the walk. Everything seemed sharper, minute details she’d never noticed, seemed all in slow motion somehow.

“You want to know where I’m going now? How about last night?” Her voice grew louder. “Did you care at all where I went last night?”

Roni grabbed her by the elbow to steer her back into the house. “Don’t you dare talk to me in that tone!”

Cory shook her off. “And you are never to have that man back in our house again, ever!” A huge band around her chest tightened. “He attacked me, and you didn’t do anything!” The neighborhood sounds stilled.

“What are you talking about?” Her mom’s arm dropped to her side.

“He came in my room. He attacked me.”

“Oh, go on. That’s crazy.” Roni stomped on her words. “He didn’t attack you. He was upstairs to use the bathroom and went in the wrong room, that’s all.” She pulled the bottom of her suit sleeve to straighten it and headed down the sidewalk where the kid was riding his bike.

Clickety-click. Clickety-click. The sound faded as he rode away from them. They stood facing each other, staring.

Cory drew a deep breath. “No, Mom, he was drunk. I pushed him off, but he knew what he was doing, and you didn’t help me. You’ve never helped me.”