Effortless and effervescent; ideal for horse-crazy girls ready to move beyond The Saddle Club.
A prep schooler who loves horses competes with her new stepsister in this series opener by the author of the Canterwood Crest series.
Seventh grader Abby arrives for the start of her second year at Massachusetts boarding school Saddlehill Academy eager to reunite with friends but with mixed feelings regarding new stepsister Emery, who’s entering sixth grade. Despite both girls’ participating in the Interscholastic Pony League, they hadn’t known each other until their parents began dating. Abby, whose mother abandoned her, tries to befriend Emery, but someone leaks a doctored video that purportedly shows Abby bad-mouthing Emery. Abby’s determined to find out who did it. Saddlehill is a fairy-tale dream—in addition to the gorgeous barn, there’s a local beach, a pool, a campus sweet shop, and the ability to order dinner delivery whenever students wish. Some elements of diversity are woven into the cast: Abby and Emery are cued White; Abby’s best friends are Vivi, who is Black, and Thea, who is Korean American. Thea’s sister is an amputee. Abby had a same-sex crush, and a Brazilian immigrant student is now using they/them pronouns. But there’s no socio-economic diversity, and the characters move effortlessly inside a very rich, financially privileged world. Despite the scads of drama, there’s little true emotion, and the story truncates abruptly, presumably leaving its resolution to the sequel.
Effortless and effervescent; ideal for horse-crazy girls ready to move beyond The Saddle Club. (Fiction. 9-13)Pub Date: May 30, 2023
ISBN: 9781665912891
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Aladdin
Review Posted Online: Feb. 7, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2023
A slow, slight story enlivened by likable characters and a nice dose of humor. Twice.
Six 14-year-old boys, all classmates, must sit tight in their school bathroom while they wait out a storm warning, a forced interaction that causes the barriers between them to fall.
Although there isn’t much story, it’s told twice, once as a novella, the second time as a play. The plot is a kind of stripped-down, reasonably witty, all-male middle school version of The Breakfast Club, though it lacks that property’s heart and gravitas. Readers will both like and recognize the diverse group of characters, such as the brainiac or the hostile, seemingly dumb one, and the jokes mostly land. But for boys of that age, these characters are remarkably live-and-let-live, with no harsh teasing of the anxious new kid with the stuffed cat, for example. This goodwill creates minor rather than major tension between them, which, coupled with the lack of action, makes the novella feel rather sluggish. It’s better as a play, partially because it’s cut to its essentials, partially because the story’s shape, simple set, and group of individuals artificially stuck together as interior revelations play out lends itself to the form. Drama teachers may find it a useful demonstration of how to turn prose into dramatic writing.
A slow, slight story enlivened by likable characters and a nice dose of humor. Twice. (Fiction/drama. 9-13)Pub Date: May 10, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4814-5223-6
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2016
An intergenerational tale that highlights a girl’s growing confidence and awareness.
Her grandfather’s story about growing up during the Korean War mobilizes a girl against racism in her own town.
When someone defaces the gym of her suburban Maryland middle school with racist graffiti, Korean American Junie Kim at first doesn’t want to join her outraged friends in protesting. Instead, Junie, who has been facing the racist taunts of a school bus bully every morning, becomes cynical, negative, and depressed. Her resistance alienates her friends, and she endures a brief bout of suicidal ideation; fortunately, her family finds her a therapist she trusts. A school assignment to interview an elder gives Junie a chance to hear about her beloved grandfather’s boyhood during the Korean War. His harrowing tale and her grandmother’s similarly traumatic story offer valuable perspective, and she is inspired to take action by working with her friends to create a video about diversity for an upcoming assembly. Extraneous details sometimes slow the story, the dialogue can feel unrealistically expository, and the alternating narration and time jumps are at times disorienting, but the brutal depictions of life during the Korean War, including the desperate hunt for food and the chaos of evacuation, ring true. Junie’s love for her grandparents—and theirs for her—is movingly portrayed. Their conversations and Junie’s relationships with her diverse friend group sensitively unpack a range of subjects relating to identity and prejudice.
An intergenerational tale that highlights a girl’s growing confidence and awareness. (author’s note) (Fiction. 9-13)Pub Date: May 4, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-06-298798-3
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Feb. 25, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2021
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
