Bobbi J. G. Weiss

This third in a trilogy of books is a cute tween story about an American girl who moves to England with her cowboy dad, where they are both starting fresh at the "Covington Academy" for equestrian arts. Her dad is the new riding instructor/trainer, and she has to cope with new culture--learning British terms for things as well as the boarding school milieu--a new school, and missing her recently deceased mom. Kit doesn't ride horses, either, ever since a terrible fall years earlier, and so show more she doesn't fit in to the horse-heavy world of Covington. But she, natch, falls in love with a particular horse, an outlaw whom nobody can ride (how many books with that premise did I read when I was a teenager? Let me count them by the dozens... :-) and together maybe they can become an accomplished horse-and-rider team. Along the way, Kit makes new friends, a frenemy, and has entanglements with some cute boys of course. Very cute story, very predictable, but, still a fun read. Since these books are basically novelizations of the scripts of the first few episodes of the Nickelodeon kids' tv series "Ride," (which a certain adult reviewer may or may not have hunted down and watched on Amazon Prime...ahem) they are full of typical tv characters (obligatory stern headmistress, multiculturally diverse but not very layered student characters), fun banter and one-liners, sitcom-worthy situations, and only a smattering of actual horsey stuff. I am sure that there is nothing incorrect about the horse terms and situations in the book, but they certainly seemed very simplistic and tv-horseified, if you know what I mean. You won't be learning much actual equestrian knowledge from these books or the show. But if you're looking for a cute horsey-related fish-out-of-water story to give to a tween, these are pretty fun. They're a quick read and have genuine heart. show less

Fourteen-year-old Kit is a pretty plucky girl. But her pluck is put to the test because: 1) she and her cowboy father move to England for her father's new job at The Covington Academy, and 2) the academy is an equestrian boarding school. Kit hasn't ridden a horse in years, since the terrifying time she fell from one. Now she must take on a new country, a new school, and her fear of riding in Ride: Kit Meets Covington, a novel by author Bobbi JG Weiss.

For everyone who may be familiar with the show more drama series Ride from Nickelodeon or YTV, more power to you. I'd never heard of the show before.

Nonetheless, I enjoyed this novel.

Now, though I gather that it's a young YA book, it had a more juvenile feel to me, reading like a children's (perhaps middle grade?) book with teenaged characters. Maybe I'm just better acquainted with old-fashioned children's and young adult books and have less of a feel for what those genres are like these days.

But anyhow, this is indeed an engaging, humorous, and motivating tale with a fun batch of characters. I thought the story's development was a bit bumpy or choppy at times, and some of the points of view seemed to be introduced/explored a little late. And, even knowing that this is Book One of a coming series, the last few scenes had me thinking, "So...that's it, then? This is where and how the story is ending?"

Still, quite a worthwhile read, and I'd be delighted to continue on with the series, when it continues.
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I received a complimentary copy of this book through the LibraryThing Early Reviewers program for an honest review. show less

If Kit wants to remain a student at The Covington Academy, an elite equestrian school in England, Kit must ride. And the only horse Kit wants to ride is TK. Lady Covington, the school's headmistress, just sent wild and unpredictable TK away, but Kit is determined to get her favorite horse back in Ride: The Search for TK by author Bobbi JG Weiss.

This third Ride novel includes some reminders about what's been going on in the series. Still, it's best to first read the two novels before this show more one to really care about Kit and the crew of characters at the academy.

Now, I'm not sure how interested I would've been in this book if I wasn't already involved with the characters. The story isn't boring but seems to lack focus to a degree. Some of the events and story elements feel a little sudden or random.

It's also not my favorite thing when a new character is introduced toward the end, beginning a new subplot when the book is nearly over. Again, it feels sudden and random. I've not seen the television show this series is based on, but perhaps the novel's flow is awkward partly because it's covering events from more than one episode? And as I expected, the last chapter pretty much ends with a cliffhanger, like in the previous book.

With that said, though, I enjoyed this read since, yeah, I care about the characters. Overall, this is a fun and wholesome YA series, a nice mix of humor, quirkiness, and heavier stuff—but not too heavy. I'll be on the lookout for Book Four.
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I received a complimentary copy of this book through the LibraryThing Early Reviewers program for an honest review. show less

I received a free advanced copy of this book from the LibraryThing Early Reviewers giveaway in exchange for an honest review.
The tween girl in me really enjoyed this book. It’s a series I would have read in upper elementary or middle school. The center of the book is the story of Kit who has moved with her father after her mother dies, from a American ranch out west to an English boarding school that focuses on training students to ride horses. We learn that Kit is not the best rider, but show more she was getting comfortable riding on a certain horse named TK. Turns out that Kit was the only one that could ride TK and because he was such a hard horse to train the head of the school sold TK to another stable. Kit’s goal in the book is to find TK and she gets her friends at the school to help her. While the story is very formulaic (girl deals with moving to a new place, finding her horse, having a crush on a boy and handing a mean girl) it’s enjoyable and I’m sure there’s many upper elementary and middle school students (especially those that love horse stories) that would want to read it.
This book is the third in a series, but you don’t need to read the first two to understand the story. Apparently, the book is based on a TV show and I’m sure fans of the show would also want to read it. I ended up putting the series on the order list for the middle school library where I work. show less