Jesus Garcia & the Chestnut Horse is a story about the loss of innocence, not through one dramatic event, but through a slow, dawning realization that the world is not as just or kind as a child believes it to be. The central conflict is the clash between the narrator's innate sense of fairness and friendship, and the ingrained, systemic prejudice of the society around him. This conflict is embodied in the parallel fates of Jesus and the chestnut horse?two proud, beautiful spirits who are punished for their very nature. The emotional journey felt deeply authentic, and the lack of a "happy" resolution, where the bullies get their comeuppance, makes the story's poignant message about memory and loss all the more powerful.

Jesus was "without a doubt, the smartest kid in our class." The chestnut horse had the makings of a "splendid horse for someone." Both were destroyed by ignorance, arrogance, and a system that refused to see their value. Bad things happened; it was that something beautiful and promising was deliberately extinguished.

While the story is filled with the ugliness of prejudice, it's also illuminated by moments of quiet decency. The narrator's father standing up to Asa Long Jr., Mr. Udall speaking Spanish to the Mexican children to make them feel welcome, and Mrs. Carter physically pulling Mrs. Millhouse away from Jesus are all acts of resistance. These moments didn't change the world, but they provided flashes of hope and humanity. They made me feel that even in a place poisoned by prejudice, individual acts of kindness and principle matter immensely. There was a sense of bittersweetness, a feeling that while the larger battle was lost, these small victories of character were not in vain.

We are all ultimately defined by the events in our lives I'm no exception. The first defining experience in my life was contracting Bulbar Polio at eighteen months of age.
My second experience was being raised in Gilbert, Arizona, during the fifties and sixties. It was an idyllic Southwest community of mid-twentieth century American. The population was around 1800 people, including those who lived outside the city limits.

My wife (also a Gilbert girl) live in Marana, Arizona, a northwestern suburb of Tucson. She's also my best friend, my squeeze, doubles as my editor, and is my most ardent fan and my most vocal critique.