A Horse of Her Own

gr. 5-8 according to PW. [Plain] Jane has been riding an adored school horse, Beau, for years, but has to give him up when a little girl's parents buy him. She ends up with Lancelot ("Big Red"), a giant, loose-cannon warmblood abandoned by his snotty owner and quickly sold to Jane's trainer by the snot's father. Many mishaps later, Jane wins the big camp competition, and Jane's trainer gives her the horse. The plot is happy-ending pat, but the moneyed, clique-driven horse camp culture rings true, as do the technical details of the English school of riding. A little less convincing is Red's nearly immediate turnaround under Jane's skilled hand, since he is presented initially as a brilliant but traumatized champion. That he turns out to show more be a "mystery horse" rather than the one he was thought to be, I suppose that's mitigated a little...still, he seems ready for the pressure of competition awfully quickly. Jane's also hyper-competitive and the emphasis on winning extreme, though eased somewhat by the presence of her best friend, Robin, who hates competition and just wants to love her horse and riding. Of course, I'm nitpicking--as a kid, I would've devoured it without hesitation. show less

This book was a quick read, but if you love horses then this book is a great view of them through the eyes of a young horse-loving girl. 3Q4P The cover art is okay and I'd recommend this book for middle school and high school students. I chose to read this book because I enjoy reading about animals and like to ride horses so reading a book about a young girl that doesn't have her own horse, (like me), really pulled me in. KaraB

nice horse book. Sure captivated me.