Taming the Star Runner

For every wild thing, there’s a truth that can’t be broken—only faced.

By the late 1980s, S.E. Hinton had already spent over two decades as a literary icon—and she was still only in her late 30s. Taming the Star Runner, published in 1988, marked a new phase in her writing. This was her first novel told in the third person, signaling a slight shift in style and tone. And while the setting expanded beyond the gritty inner city into open country and quiet stables, her signature themes—alienation, rebellion, and the ache of growing up—remained firmly in place.

The novel was also a bit meta: like Travis, the protagonist, Hinton had been a young writer whose first book caused waves. There’s a raw, reflective quality to this one, almost as if Hinton were revisiting her own teenage self with the wisdom—and weariness—of adulthood.

The Story

Travis is a city kid with fire in his blood and fists that get him into trouble. After one punch too many, he’s shipped off to live with his uncle in the country. There, among horses and horizon lines, Travis meets the Star Runner—an untamable stallion whose fury mirrors his own.

As Travis struggles to adjust to the quiet rural life, he also faces the publication of his first novel back home—his dream coming true in a world he no longer belongs to. He’s torn between two lives, two selves, and a truth he can’t outrun: sometimes being wild means learning when to yield.

The Star Runner isn’t just a horse. It’s everything Travis can’t control—his anger, his future, his heart. But maybe taming isn’t about breaking. Maybe it’s about understanding.

This novel stands as one of Hinton’s most introspective, a quiet rebellion written with saddle-worn grace. And just like Travis, it doesn’t shout to be heard. It just keeps galloping.