Wild at Heart: Mustangs and the Young People Fighting to Save Them

Gr 5–8—Wearing her heartfelt agenda on both sleeves, Farley focuses on the plight of feral horses in this country, which are, in her view, being brutally rounded up by the thousands and either relocated or auctioned to "kill buyers" for animal food. Along with statistics (which, she claims, are hard to pin down due to government "secrecy and disorganization"), she presents comments from researchers, uncomfortably explicit eyewitness reports from observers, and even a set of tweets that she sent during an auction as evidence of ongoing cruel treatment and poor management. In appeals to the emotions that are underscored by Farlow's lyrical photos of mustangs running free or posing in graceful stances, Farley also describes the social behavior of wild horses, their history on this continent (cogently arguing that they are still "native species" despite having died out and later reintroduced by European settlers), and the achievements of rescue workers from early champion Velma Johnston to nine young current activists.