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The story is about a girl (Lara) who ages from 10-14 in the book and tries to find her place in the world given that she's a young woman but has an affinity for breeding borzoi dogs, which is typically a man's job. She struggles to solidify her place within her family and within the local society as she goes against cultural expectations to follow her dreams. She grows up a lot in the book and is a very headstrong and likeable character throughout. Her parents want to support her, but don't always understand her, or maybe it's more accurate to say that they understand her but in different ways, and have diverging expectations of her. This is not a long book and an adult can easily read through it in one sitting, although it will take younger readers longer. It's also fascinating to read the material at the back of the book about what led Annemarie to this idea and how she developed it. And don't miss the image on the book jacket of Annemarie with her own borzoi - so cute!!