by Annemarie O'Brien
Young Lara is being groomed in the family tradition to take over as Count Voronstov's next kennel steward, breeding borzoi dogs worthy of the Tsar. But then Lara's baby brother is born and she finds herself supplanted as her father decides to make her brother the next kennel steward. Going against her father's wishes and becoming increasingly sure of her special gift of understanding these incredible dogs, Lara risks everything when she reveals the truth about her visions. Now she must save Zar, her favorite borzoi and the one she raised from birth, from a hungry pack of wolves. Only then can she find her own, extraordinary destiny ...
"Starred Review. Engrossing and powerful. 10-14 years." - Kirkus
"Dog lovers especially will pick up this trail right away and eagerly track the appealing heroine's adventures. " - Booklist
This information about Lara's Gift was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Annemarie O'Brien has an MFA in Writing for Children & Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts. She teaches writing courses at UC Berkeley and Stanford. Before that, she worked for many years in Russia where she got her first borzoi dog. Annemarie lives in northern California with her two daughters and two borzoi dogs.

If you liked Lara's Gift, try these:
by Chikodili Emelumadu
Published 2023
The Girl with the Louding Voice meets The Water Dancer in Chịkọdịlị Emelụmadụ's magical, award-winning literary debut, Dazzling, offering a new take on West African mythology.
The Standardization of Demoralization Procedures
by Jennifer Hofmann
Published 2020
An audacious debut that combines spycraft, betrayals, and reversals to show that sometimes it's the secret that destroys you.
Buried Beneath the Baobab Tree
by Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani
Published 2020
Based on interviews with young women who were kidnapped by Boko Haram, a Muslim terrorist group, this poignant novel by Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani tells the timely story of one girl who was taken from her home in Nigeria and her harrowing fight for survival.
Second hand books are wild books...
Click Here to find out who said this, as well as discovering other famous literary quotes!
Your guide toexceptional books
BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.