Velveteen Vargas is 11 years old, living with a host family in upstate New York. In her new novel, Mary Gaitskill illuminates the shifting relationships between adults and child over the course of several years, as well as Velveteen's encounter with the horses at the stable down the road - especially with an abused, unruly mare called Fugly Girl. A subversive coming-of-age story that crosses racial and class boundaries.