Book picks similar to
Coming Home by Lauren Brooke


heartland
horses
young-adult
horse-books

Tales from a Not-So-Fabulous Life


Rachel Renée Russell - 2009
    New mean girl. New crush. New diary so I can spill about all of it…I put a lot of really personal stuff in this diary along with my sketches and doodles.But, mostly it’s about how TRAUMATIC it was transferring to my new private middle school, Westchester Country Day.And, how a lot of the CCP (Cool, Cute & Popular) kids were really SNOBBY and made my life TOTALLY miserable. People like, oh, I don’t know, maybe…MACKENZIE HOLLISTER!!And, it just so happened that I got stuck with a locker right next to hers. I could NOT believe I had such CRAPPY luck. I knew right then and there it was going to be a VERY, VERY long school year :-( !

Five on a Treasure Island


Enid Blyton - 1942
    Time is running out for the Famous Five, who will follow the clues and get to the treasure first?

The Face on the Milk Carton


Caroline B. Cooney - 1990
    She knows that little girl is she. But how could it be true?Janie can't believe that her loving parents kidnapped her, until she begins to piece together clues that don't make sense. Why are there no pictures of Janie before she was four? Her parents have always said they didn't have a camera. Now that explanation sounds feeble. Something is terribly wrong, and Janie is afraid to find out what happened more than twelve years ago.In this gripping page-turner, the reader will unravel—as Janie does—the twisted events that changed the lives of two families forever.

Where the Red Fern Grows


Wilson Rawls - 1961
    Old Dan had the brawn. Little Ann had the brains, and Billy had the will to make them into the finest hunting team in the valley. Glory and victory were coming to them, but sadness waited too. Where the Red Fern Grows is an exciting tale of love and adventure you'll never forget.

Mandy


Julie Andrews Edwards - 1971
    Escaping over the orphanage wall to explore the outside world, Mandy discovers a tiny deserted cottage in the woods. All through the spring, summer, and fall, Mandy works to make it truly hers. Sometimes she "borrows" things she needs from the orphanage. Sometimes, to guard her secret, she even lies. Then, one stormy night at the cottage, Mandy gets sick, and no one knows how to find her--except a special friend she didn't know she had.

Love, Aubrey


Suzanne LaFleur - 2009
    From now on it would just be me and Sammy–the two of us, and no one else."A tragic accident has turned eleven-year-old Aubrey’s world upside down. Starting a new life all alone, Aubrey has everything she thinks she needs: SpaghettiOs and Sammy, her new pet fish. She cannot talk about what happened to her. Writing letters is the only thing that feels right to Aubrey, even if no one ever reads them.With the aid of her loving grandmother and new friends, Aubrey learns that she is not alone, and gradually, she finds the words to express feelings that once seemed impossible to describe. The healing powers of friendship, love, and memory help Aubrey take her first steps toward the future.Readers will care for Aubrey from page one and will watch her grow until the very end, when she has to make one of the biggest decisions of her life.Love, Aubrey is devastating, brave, honest, funny, and hopeful, and it introduces a remarkable new writer, Suzanne LaFleur. No matter how old you are, this book is not to be missed.

Welcome to Dead House


R.L. Stine - 1992
    Spooky. Possibly haunted. And the town of Dark Falls is pretty strange, too. — But their parents don't believe them. You'll get used to it, they say. Go out and make some new friends. — So Amanda and Josh do. But these creepy new friends are not exactly what their parents had in mind.Because they want to be friends......Forever.

The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips


Michael Morpurgo - 2005
    Something big too, very big. At school, in the village, whoever you meet, it's all anyone talks about. It's like a sudden curse has come down on us all. It makes me wonder if we'll ever see the sun again."It's 1943, and Lily Tregenze lives on a farm, in the idyllic seaside village of Slapton. Apart from her father being away, and the 'townie' evacuees at school, her life is scarcely touched by the war. Until one day, Lily and her family, along with 3000 other villagers, are told to move out of their homes – lock, stock and barrel.Soon, the whole area is out of bounds, as the Allied forces practise their landings for D-day, preparing to invade France. But Tips, Lily's adored cat, has other ideas – barbed wire and keep-out signs mean nothing to her, nor does the danger of guns and bombs. Frantic to find her, Lily makes friends with two young American soldiers, who promise to help her. But will she ever see her cat again? Lily decides to cross the wire into the danger zone to look for Tips herself…Now, many years later, as Michael is reading his Grandma Lily's diary, he learns about The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips – and wonders how one adventurous cat could still affect their lives sixty years later.

Born to Trot


Marguerite Henry - 1950
    Trotters are the world to him. But all he ever does is practice. He's still too young and inexperienced to drive in a real race. Only he knows he's ready for the big league. If people would give him a chance, then they would know it, too. Gib's chance comes in a filly named Rosalind. Now Gib can prove that he's man enough to train a champion. But does he really have what it takes? Can he and Rosalind go all the way to win the Hambletonian, the greatest race of all?

The Road to Balinor


Mary Stanton - 1988
    After a terrible riding accident, Ari cannot remember anything of her past and is sent to live on a farm with foster parents. What Ari doesn't know is that she is not from our world, but from Balinor, a land of sorcerers and unicorns! Her parents, the King and Queen, sent her to Earth to protect her from a raging war before they were banished from their homeland. Now Ari--Princess Arianna--has found the road back to Balinor. As she struggles to remember her heritage, she must face the challenge of restoring peace to Balinor.

Nancy Drew: #1-64


Carolyn Keene - 2006
    Now, for the first time, you can purchase all sixty-four classic Nancy Drew titles in one complete set!#1: The Secret of the Old Clock#2: The Hidden Staircase #3: The Bungalow Mystery #4: The Mystery at Lilac Inn #5: The Secret of Shadow Ranch #6: The Secret of Red Gate Farm #7: The Clue in the Diary #8: Nancy's Mysterious Letter #9: The Sign of the Twisted Candles #10: Password to Larkspur Lane #11: The Clue of the Broken Locket #12: The Message in the Hollow Oak #13: The Mystery of the Ivory Charm #14: The Whispering Statue #15: The Haunted Bridge #16: The Clue of the Tapping Heels #17: Mystery of the Brass-Bound Trunk #18: Mystery of the Moss-Covered Mansion #19: The Quest of the Missing Map #20: The Clue in the Jewel Box #21: The Secret in the Old Attic #22: The Clue in the Crumbling Wall #23: Mystery of the Tolling Bell #24: The Clue in the Old Album #25: The Ghost of Blackwood Hall #26: The Clue of the Leaning Chimney #27: The Secret of the Wooden Lady #28: The Clue of the Black Keys #29: Mystery at the Ski Jump #30: The Clue of the Velvet Mask #31: The Ringmaster's Secret #32: The Scarlet Slipper Mystery #33: The Witch Tree Symbol #34: The Hidden Window Mystery #35: The Haunted Showboat #36: The Secret of the Golden Pavilion #37: The Clue in the Old Stagecoach #38: The Mystery of the Fire Dragon #39: The Clue of the Dancing Puppet #40: The Moonstone Castle Mystery #41: The Clue of the Whistling Bagpipes #42: The Phantom of Pine Hill #43: The Mystery of the 99 Steps #44: The Clue in the Crossword Cipher #45: The Spider Sapphire Mystery #46: The Invisible Intruder #47: The Mysterious Mannequin #48: The Crooked Banister #49: The Secret of Mirror Bay #50: The Double Jinx Mystery #51: Mystery of the Glowing Eye #52: The Secret of the Forgotten City #53: The Sky Phantom #54: The Strange Message in the Parchment #55: Mystery of Crocodile Island #56: The Thirteenth Pearl #57: The Triple Hoax #58: The Flying Saucer Mystery #59: The Secret in the Old Lace #60: The Greek Symbol Mystery #61: The Swami's Ring #62: The Kachina Doll Mystery #63: The Twin Dilemma #64: Captive Witness

Into the Wild


Erin Hunter - 2003
    But the ThunderClan cats are in grave danger, and the sinister ShadowClan grows stronger every day. Noble warriors are dying-- and some deaths are more mysterious than others. In the midst of this turmoil appears an ordinary house cat named Rusty . . . who may turn out to be the bravest warrior of them all.

Island of the Blue Dolphins


Scott O'Dell - 1960
    Around it, blue dolphins swim, otters play, and sea elephants and sea birds abound. Once, Indians also lived on the island. And when they left and sailed to the east, one young girl was left behind. — This is the story of Karana, the Indian girl who lived alone for years on the Island of the Blue Dolphins. Year after year, she watched one season pass into another and waited for a ship to take her away. But while she waited, she kept herself alive by building shelter, making weapons, finding food, and fighting her enemies, the wild dogs. It is not only an unusual adventure of survival, but also a tale of natural beauty and personal discovery.

The Agony of Alice


Phyllis Reynolds Naylor - 1985
    Here she is, about to be a teenager and she doesn't know how. It's worse for her than for anyone else, she believes, because she has no role model. Her mother has been dead for years. Help and advice can only come from her father, manager of a music store, and her nineteen-year-old brother, who is a slob. What do they know about being a teen age girl? What she needs, Alice decides, is a gorgeous woman who does everything right, as a roadmap, so to speak. If only she finds herself, when school begins, in the classroom of the beautiful sixth-grade teacher, Miss Cole, her troubles will be over. Unfortunately, she draws the homely, pear-shaped Mrs. Plotkin. One of Mrs. Plotkin's first assignments is for each member of the class to keep a journal of their thoughts and feelings. Alice calls hers "The Agony of Alice," and in it she records all the embarrassing things that happen to her. Through the school year, Alice has lots to record. She also comes to know the lovely Miss Cole, as well as Mrs. Plotkin. And she meets an aunt and a female cousin whom she has not really known before. Out of all this, to her amazement, comes a role model—one that she would never have accepted before she made a few very important discoveries on her own, things no roadmap could have shown her. Alice moves on, ready to be a wise teenager.

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants


Ann Brashares - 2001
    They didn’t look all that great: they were worn, dirty, and speckled with bleach. On the night before she and her friends part for the summer, Carmen decides to toss them. But Tibby says they’re great. She'd love to have them. Lena and Bridget also think they’re fabulous. Lena decides that they should all try them on. Whoever they fit best will get them. Nobody knows why, but the pants fit everyone perfectly. Even Carmen (who never thinks she looks good in anything) thinks she looks good in the pants. Over a few bags of cheese puffs, they decide to form a sisterhood and take the vow of the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants . . . the next morning, they say good-bye. And then the journey of the pants — and the most memorable summer of their lives — begins.