Horse books have been intensely popular for girls for the past one hundred years. Which means there are a lot of horse books... and a lot of rehashed story lines. As a dedicated reader of horse stories, I have grown pretty critical of the same old same old.
That's exactly why I am so very happy with Maggie Dana's middle-grade/Young Adult series of horse books, Timber Ridge Riders.
Like so many horse books, Keeping Secrets, the first title in the series, is about the friendships and rivalries that horsey girls make. For the horse-obsessed girl, the other kids at school are just people to put up with until the final bell rings. Life, and laughter, and all-out war, reside firmly at the barn.
But unlike every other horse book with a friendship theme, the twists in Keeping Secrets are new and different. The two main characters are not your typical horse-girls. Holly, the riding instructor’s daughter, is wheelchair-bound. Kate, looking for a place to stay while her father is off chasing butterflies for science, has already sworn off horses and doesn't want anything to do with them.
You can see right away, this isn’t going to be one more clone of The Saddle Club. These girls aren’t going to bond over trail rides and campfires.
But it turns out that you can bond over other things. Sometimes you just meet someone and you’re destined to be best friends. Nervous, haunted Kate and witty, tough Holly are the perfect couple. I really love their little exchanges about various princesses and horses in their lives:
“That mare’s a menace,” Holly muttered. “She doesn’t deserve such a pretty name.”
“Luna?” Kate said. “As in lunatic?”
“No, Luna as in Moon,” Holly replied. “But they should’ve called her Venus.”
“But that’s even prettier,” Kate protested.
Holly glared at the mare. “Venus, as in Venus Fly-Trap,” she said. “Eats cats and small children.”
Of course, horses help. The girls at Timber Ridge Stables are all keen to show their horses in jumping and dressage shows, and in Keeping Secrets, they’re prepping for a big riding school championship that will pit their eventing and horsekeeping skills against one another. Keeping Secrets gives fault-seekers like myself no reason to complain: Dana gets a clear round when it comes to horsemanship, riding, and eventing.
Right down to the butterflies before a dressage round.
Her mind went blank. “I’ve forgotten the test.”
“Duhhhh,” Holly said. “You’ll remember the minute you get in the ring.” She tugged at her cap, the one with boss mare on the front. “And if you don’t, Magician will. I bet he could do it without you.”
“Good luck,” Liz said, slapping Kate’s booted leg.
“You’ll do fine, and don’t forget to smile.”
Smile?
Kate bared her teeth and hoped it would do.
Keeping Secrets is no repackaged re-hash of a genre horse book. It's a real, honest-to-goodness page-turner. I had to know what was going to happen next. It’s an exciting, clever read, with wonderful horses and dedicated horsey girls and nasty barn princesses all over the place. It will keep your favorite horse-crazy kid very happy. And then I suggest you read it for yourself.
Keeping Secrets is available at Amazon, BN.com, iTunes, and Kobo.
