" A nonfiction journey that reads like an epic novel.... A book of endless amazements."

- LUIS ALBERTO URREA, AUTHOR OF THE HUMMINGBIRD'S DAUGHTER AND THE DEVIL'S HIGHWAY

The remarkable, inspiring story of a father willing to go to the ends of the earth to heal his son.

When his son Rowan was diagnosed with autism, Rupert Isaacson was devastated, afraid he might never be able to communicate with his child. But when Isaacson, a lifelong horseman, rode their neighbor's horse with Rowan, the boy improved immeasurably. Inspired by his son's progress Isaacson was struck with a crazy idea: why not take Rowan to Mongolia, the one place in the world where horses and shamanic healing intersected?

THE HORSE BOY is the dramatic and heartwarming story of that impossible adventure. In Mongolia, the family found undreamed of landscapes and people, unbearable setbacks, and advances beyond their wildest dreams. This is a deeply moving, truly oneof- a-kind story-of a family willing to go to the ends of the earth to help their son, and of a boy learning to connect with the world for the first time.

" This is a story everyone needs to hear."

- DR. TEMPLE GRANDIN, AUTHOR OF THINKING IN PICTURES

Isaacson is making a documentary film about Rowan's journey. Links to video footage and galleries of stunning photos from the journey may be viewed at http://www.horseboymovie.com/. Isaacson's first book, The Healing Land (Grove Press, 2004), was a 2004 New York Times Notable Book. He has written for Esquire, National Geographic, Condé Nast Traveler, and as an ex-professional horse trainer for equestrian publications. Funds from the book have already helped found a new school called Big Sky in Elgin, Texas, that uses horses and other animals at the center of the curriculum for autistic children and their siblings. Big Sky has been endorsed by the Autism Society of America. Readers who embraced books like Marley and Me (WilliamMorrow, 2005), Thinking in Pictures (Vintage, 1996), The Horse Whisperer (Delacorte, 1995), and Beautiful Boy (Houghton Mifflin, 2008) will respond to the Isaacsons' journey.

Excerpt from THE HORSE BOY:

The horse digs its back hooves into the dirt and gives one last, scrambling effort to reach the top of the rise. I lean forward, taking weight off the horse's straining back, trying not to crush my little boy sitting in the saddle in front of me, trying not to look down at the dizzying chasm below. For one terrifying moment, the horse slips backward. Then, with a final heave, we are up on top of the high mountain pass.

"Snow!" Rowan points at the wide streak of white still clinging to the higher tops above us, where a pair of ravens fly, cawing madly on the wind. "Get down! Get down and play in the snow!"

Like a normal kid. Almost.

Before us rises a great stone cairn, set with animal skulls, blue prayer scarves and prayers scribbled in Cyrillic script on loose sheets of paper, weighted down by heavy rocks, fluttering in the wind.

Somewhere in this mountain vastness is the shaman of the reindeer people. Half a year it has taken to track him down. Will he heal my son? Will he even know how?