(2) 4-6 Ellen & Ned series. Now in fifth grade, riding student Ellen (Riding Lessons) has matured somewhat; Ned, the horse she loves, has stopped talking to her, making her wonder if he ever did. Outside the stables, Ellen learns a secret about a neighbor, and the money troubles in her own family add more pressure to her life. The well-observed narrative moves at an amiable pace, kept lively by Ellen's distinct voice and perspective.

Reviewer: Anita L. Burkam | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2019

(4) 4-6 Spirit Riding Free series. The Baby-Sitters Club meets the Spirit Riding Free Netflix show in this diary-format series. More simply written and with more spacious pages than Selfors's Spirit novelizations, this anodyne tale of girls and their trusty steeds offers a smidgen of adventure and minimal character development as Lucky and her girlfriends start a day camp and struggle to make it successful.

Reviewer: Miriam Lang Budin

(4) 4-6 Jake Maddox Sports Stories series. Illustrated by Aburtov. Black-and-white full-page illustrations accompany these hi-lo stories involving talented athletes in tennis (Doubles), football (Punter's), bull-riding (Rodeo), and golf (Secondhand). The message-laden texts highlight the importance of focus and fair play to achieve team victory and accomplish personal goals. The engaging, action-packed stories should appeal to sports enthusiasts. Each book is supplemented by background on the sport, discussion questions, and writing prompts. Glos. Review covers these Jake Maddox Sports Stories titles: Double Trouble, Punter's Pride, Rodeo Challenge, and Secondhand Slice.

Reviewer: Jack Forman

(4) 4-6 Jake Maddox Girl Sports Stories series. Illustrated by Katie Wood. These sports-themed stories starring girls highlight important skills necessary for success at a skate park (Longboard), a ranch (Cowgirl), on the ice (Ice Rink), and with the cheer squad (Squad). Fast pacing and black-and-white digital illustrations keep the predictable plots focused and easy to follow. Discussion questions, writing prompts, and facts about the sports are appended. Glos. Review covers these Jake Maddox Girl Sports Stories titles: Cowgirl Grit, Ice Rink Rookie, Longboard Letdown, and Squad Struggles.

Reviewer: The Horn Book, Inc.

(4) 1-3 Pony Camp Diaries series. Illustrated by Mandy Stanley. In these diary-style chapter books set at Sunnyside Stables, experienced rider Penny regains her confidence after an injury and Megan deals with a disobedient horse. The girls also learn to get along with fellow riders, know-it-all Jennifer and moody Jade. With straightforward illustrated plots, this series is slight yet satisfying, especially for horse lovers. Both books include horse facts and a quiz. Glos. Review covers these Pony Camp Diaries titles: Megan and Mischief and Penny and Prince.

Reviewer: Mariko Turk

(4) 1-3 Pony Camp Diaries series. Illustrated by Mandy Stanley. In these diary-style chapter books set at Sunnyside Stables, experienced rider Penny regains her confidence after an injury and Megan deals with a disobedient horse. The girls also learn to get along with fellow riders, know-it-all Jennifer and moody Jade. With straightforward illustrated plots, this series is slight yet satisfying, especially for horse lovers. Both books include horse facts and a quiz. Glos. Review covers these Pony Camp Diaries titles: Megan and Mischief and Penny and Prince.

Reviewer: Mariko Turk

(2) 4-6 Ellen & Ned series. In this (projected) new trilogy, headstrong fourth grader Ellen's parents inform her they're adopting a little girl and that she herself is adopted; and at her riding lessons at Oak Valley Ranch, Ellen discovers that horse Ned can talk to her in her head. The treatment of adoption is true to the book's 1960s setting. Smiley's horsewomanship is spot on, giving readers vicarious equestrian thrills.

Reviewer: Anita L. Burkam | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2018

(4) 4-6 In the second novelizations of the Nickelodeon TV show Ride, Kit prepares for a riding competition at her English equestrian school. In shifting points of view, Kit and her classmates continue to crush on and prank one another, although Kit's father's injury and memories of her deceased mother lend more serious notes. The conventional story ends tumultuously, creating anticipation for the next book.

Reviewer: Mariko Turk

(4) 4-6 Quartz Creek Ranch series. Kids come to Quartz Creek therapeutic horse ranch for various reasons: Ella's prone to outbursts (Speed); Rivka lashes out at her family's traditions after an attack on their synagogue (Home); Paley's addicted to online gaming (Summer); Hanna is painfully shy and, ironically, afraid of horses (Shy). Although the tweens' emotional problems get only superficial treatment, this hi-lo series provides plenty of realistic situations with horses. Review covers these Quartz Creek Ranch titles: At Top Speed, The Long Trail Home, One Brave Summer, and Shy Girl & Shy Guy.

Reviewer: Lisa Catherine Findlay

(4) 4-6 Quartz Creek Ranch series. Kids come to Quartz Creek therapeutic horse ranch for various reasons: Ella's prone to outbursts (Speed); Rivka lashes out at her family's traditions after an attack on their synagogue (Home); Paley's addicted to online gaming (Summer); Hanna is painfully shy and, ironically, afraid of horses (Shy). Although the tweens' emotional problems get only superficial treatment, this hi-lo series provides plenty of realistic situations with horses. Review covers these Quartz Creek Ranch titles: At Top Speed, The Long Trail Home, One Brave Summer, and Shy Girl & Shy Guy.

Reviewer: Lisa Catherine Findlay

(4) 4-6 Quartz Creek Ranch series. Kids come to Quartz Creek therapeutic horse ranch for various reasons: Ella's prone to outbursts (Speed); Rivka lashes out at her family's traditions after an attack on their synagogue (Home); Paley's addicted to online gaming (Summer); Hanna is painfully shy and, ironically, afraid of horses (Shy). Although the tweens' emotional problems get only superficial treatment, this hi-lo series provides plenty of realistic situations with horses. Review covers these Quartz Creek Ranch titles: At Top Speed, The Long Trail Home, One Brave Summer, and Shy Girl & Shy Guy.

Reviewer: Lisa Catherine Findlay

(4) 4-6 Quartz Creek Ranch series. Kids come to Quartz Creek therapeutic horse ranch for various reasons: Ella's prone to outbursts (Speed); Rivka lashes out at her family's traditions after an attack on their synagogue (Home); Paley's addicted to online gaming (Summer); Hanna is painfully shy and, ironically, afraid of horses (Shy). Although the tweens' emotional problems get only superficial treatment, this hi-lo series provides plenty of realistic situations with horses. Review covers these Quartz Creek Ranch titles: At Top Speed, The Long Trail Home, One Brave Summer, and Shy Girl & Shy Guy.

Reviewer: Lisa Catherine Findlay

(3) 1-3 Illustrated by Églantine Ceulemans. In these offbeat British imports, Pug lives a very spoiled life with equally pampered Lady Miranda. In Captain, they attend a party on a lake, and (water-averse) Pug gets lost and must find his way back to Lady Miranda. The prissy pair's misadventure is on horseback in Cowboy. Color-accented illustrations with a vintage feel make the most of comedic moments. Review covers these titles: Captain Pug and Cowboy Pug.

Reviewer: Kari Allen

(3) 1-3 Translated by Julia Marshall. Illustrated by Eva Eriksson. On her zoo class trip, Dani runs into Ella; overjoyed, the long-distance best friends go exploring together before being separated again. Although Dani acts upset that her father's girlfriend joins them for dinner that evening, she's really just worried that Ella is now sad. This continuing early-chapter-book series (My Happy Life, et al.) once again tenderly tackles real-kid problems, supported by the emotion-filled line drawings.

Reviewer: Cynthia K. Ritter

(4) 4-6 Spirit Riding Free series. Libraries with horse-obsessed middle-grade patrons will welcome Selfors's second novelization of DreamWorks Animation studio's Spirit Riding Free TV franchise. Other readers may be skeptical of the Lassie-like devotion and communication between supposedly wild mustang Spirit and young Texas girl Lucky. Verisimilitude is hardly the point, though. A female friendship dilemma and an animal welfare project round out the action.

Reviewer: Miriam Lang Budin

(4) 4-6 Though she's never been on a horse before, nineteenth-century city slicker Lucky, new to Miradero, Texas, has an instantaneous connection with a wild stallion, which enables her to ride him bareback at a gallop to rescue a couple of girls from peril. This slight novelization is a spinoff of DreamWorks' animated historical movie and subsequent Netflix series.

Reviewer: Miriam Lang Budin

(4) 4-6 American Kit Bridges starts at a strict equestrian boarding school in England. Recovering from a fall off a horse, Kit connects with unruly horse TK, gains new friends and crushes, and finally gets back in the saddle. This first novelization of the Nickelodeon show Ride introduces an entertaining but predictable world. While Kit's developments are satisfying, side characters remain flat.

Reviewer: Mariko Turk

(2) K-3 The youngest Rollatini, Bambino, can't join his elders as a circus bareback rider because their Big Wonder Horse, Ammonia, only accommodates five. No other circus act will do for Bambino--he wants to be with his family. Balet's art, as well as his words, have the verve and gala atmosphere of the circus, with double-spreads that run riot with color and motion.

Reviewer: The Horn Book, Inc. | Horn Book Magazine Issue: December, 1959

(3) YA Princess Dennaleia arrives in the kingdom of Mynaria for her arranged marriage to the prince, but she finds herself drawn to his wayward sister, Mare, her riding instructor. Denna also must navigate murderous plots afoot and the necessary suppression of her forbidden magic. Coulthurst alternates narration between the two strongly written female characters in this hopeful same-sex romance set in an intricate fantasy world.

Reviewer: Jeannie Coutant

(3) 1-3 Illustrated by Alison Friend. In three transitional-reader chapters, Maggie and her horse Bramble prepare for a winter storm, weather the snowy night (Bramble gets outdoors via an unlatched gate), and help their neighbors dig out in the morning. Simple declarative sentences convey Bramble's charmingly naive horse observations and Maggie's true horse facts, while frisky gouache illustrations offer close-up views of the affectionate girl-horse relationship.

Reviewer: Anita L. Burkam