Book picks similar to
Dancer by Shelley Peterson
horse-books
young-adult
horses
favourites
Objects in Mirror
Tudor Robins - 2013
For the first time ever Grace is as thin as she wants to be – nearly – and there’s no way she’s giving that up.Except, what if she has to give up other things to be able to keep wearing her new “skinny” breeches?What if it comes down to a choice between all the horses she loves – Sprite, the ferocious jumper, and Iowa, the sweet greenie, and Whinny, the abused but tough mare – and the numbers on the scale, the numbers on food labels, the numbers always running through her head?Grace knows what her stepmother, Annabelle, wants her to decide. She knows what Matt – gorgeous, amazing Matt – wants her to do. She knows what the doctors think.But she also knows nobody else can make this decision for her. And sometimes she’s not even sure if she’s got the strength to do it.There is danger in living with anorexia, and there is also hope. Objects in Mirror is a truthful exploration of these extremes and of the struggles that lie between them.
The Secret World of Og
Pierre Berton - 1961
Berton often cited The Secret World of Og as his favourite of his forty-seven books. It has sold more than 200,000 copies in four editions.The series follows the five Berton children, Penny, Pamela, Peter, Patsy, and baby Paul (better-known as “The Pollywog”) as they discover and explore a vast,mysterious world of caverns and rivers hidden beneath a trapdoor in the floor of their clubhouse. In their subterranean adventures, they befriend the little green inhabitants called Ogs, share their worldly knowledge with them, and, at the same time, gain a little wisdom themselves.The series is directed by Paul Schibli who also directed the long-running CBC series The Raccoons.
The Perfect Distance
Kim Ablon Whitney - 2005
For as long as she can remember, she's dreamed of winning the Maclay finals in Madison Square Garden—the most prestigious horse event in the country for this age group—and now that it's her last year to compete, the pressure is really on. But just when Francie needs to focus more than ever, the arrival of a new student at the barn upsets the careful balance she's created for herself, and soon she's not so sure if winning is really all that important, much less the point.
The Serpent's Egg
J. Fitzgerald McCurdy - 2002
Tolkien, The Serpent's Egg begins as Ottawa lies under siege. Parliament Hill has fallen to dark forces. A group of children, led by Miranda, searches through the maze of caves and tunnels under the Library of Parliament. They are in quest of the magic needed to save our world and another, older world from Hate, the Demon, and her crazed minions. For Miranda and her companions, it's also a journey of self-discovery, where friendships and personal courage are put to the ultimate test in the never-ending war between good and evil.
Journey to the River Sea
Eva Ibbotson - 2001
She believes she is in for brightly colored macaws, enormous butterflies, and "curtains of sweetly scented orchids trailing from the trees." Her British classmates warn her of man-eating alligators and wild, murderous Indians. Unfortunately, no one cautions Maia about her nasty, xenophobic cousins, who douse the house in bug spray and forbid her from venturing beyond their coiffed compound. Maia, however, is resourceful enough to find herself smack in the middle of more excitement than she ever imagined, from a mysterious "Indian" with an inheritance, to an itinerant actor dreading his impending adolescence, to a remarkable journey down the Amazon in search of the legendary giant sloth.
3 Willows: The Sisterhood Grows
Ann Brashares - 2009
She's setting her sights on a more glamorous life, but it's going to take all of her focus. At least that way she won't have to watch her friends moving so far ahead.rootsJo is spending the summer at her family's beach house, working as a busgirl and bonding with the older, cooler girls she'll see at high school come September. She didn't count on a brief fling with a cute boy changing her entire summer. Or feeling embarrassed by her middle school friends. And she didn't count on her family at all. . . leavesAma is not an outdoorsy girl. She wanted to be at an academic camp, doing research in an air-conditioned library, earning A's. Instead her summer scholarship lands her on a wilderness trip full of flirting teenagers, blisters, impossible hiking trails, and a sad lack of hair products.It is a new summer. And a new sisterhood. Come grow with them.
And Both Were Young
Madeleine L'Engle - 1949
Besides being homesick for her father and Connecticut, she isn't sophisticated like the other girls, and discussions about boys leave her tongue-tied. Her happiest times are spent apart from the others, sketching or wandering in the mountains.But the day she's out walking alone and meets a French boy, Paul, things change for Flip. As their relationship grows, so does her self-confidence. Despite her newfound happiness, there are times when Paul seems a stranger to her. And since dating is forbidden except to seniors, their romance must remain a secret. With so many new feelings and obstacles to overcome in her present, can Flip help Paul to confront his troubled past and find a future?
The Horsemasters
Don Stanford - 1957
She could hear them stamping and pawing restlessly as they awakened. She could smell them, too; and she drew in the deepest breath she could hold, filling her nostrils with the wonderful, exhilarating stable smell of sweet hay and ammonia and warm, strong life... horses!
Somebody Else's Summer
Jean Little - 2006
Tall, athletic Samantha is going to spend the summer with a family friend while her father is in South America. Alexis, a shy girl who likes books, is being sent to a horse farm to learn how to ride while her mother and stepfather are travelling in Australia. By the time their flight lands in Toronto, the girls have hatched their plots. They’re going to trade places for the summer. After all, the people they’re going to visit have never met them, and their parents are far away and hard to contact. But will they manage to pull it off? For how long? And with what consequences?
When Everything Feels Like the Movies
Raziel Reid - 2014
But Jude doesn't fit in. He's not part of The Crew because he isn't about to do anything unless it's court-appointed; he's not an Extra because nothing about him is anonymous; and he's not a Movie Star because even though everyone know his name like an A-lister, he isn't invited to the cool parties. As the director calls action, Jude is the flamer that lights the set on fire.Before everything turns to ashes from the resulting inferno, Jude drags his best friend Angela off the casting couch and into enough melodrama to incite the paparazzi, all while trying to fend off the haters and win the heart of his favourite co-star Luke Morris. It's a total train wreck!But train wrecks always make the front page.
The A Circuit
Georgina Bloomberg - 2011
It's a world with its own rules and superprivileged lifestyles. Teens travel the circuit all year, showing horses that cost as much as some homes.Tommi, Kate, and Zara are all elite competitors on the circuit, but they come from totally different backgrounds. Tommi is a billionaire heiress trying to prove she has real talent (not just deep bank accounts). Kate puts the working in working student-every win has been paid for with hours of cleaning stalls. She's used to the grueling schedule, but Fitz, the barn's resident hot guy, is about to become a major distraction. And then there's Zara. She's the wild child of a famous rockstar, but she's ready to take riding seriously. Can a party girl really change her ways?Readers who enjoy peeking into the elite world of Gossip Girl or The A-List will feel right at home in this new series with its friendships, drama, and privilege set against the backdrop of competitive horseback riding.
Are We There Yet?
David Levithan - 2005
So what better way to repair their broken relationship than to trick them into taking a trip to Italy together? Soon, though, their parents’ perfect solution has become Danny and Elijah’s nightmare as they’re forced to spend countless hours together. But then Elijah meets Julia, and soon the brothers aren’t together nearly as much. And then Julia meets Danny and soon all three of them are in a mixed-up, turned-around, never-what-you-expect world of brothers, Italy, and love.Are We There Yet? isn’t about a place on a map, it’s about a place in the heart. David Levithan has written a magical story of a journey definitely worth taking.
The Root Cellar
Janet Lunn - 1983
And if twelve-year-old Rose hadn't been so unhappy in her new home, where she'd been sent to live with unknown relatives, she probably would never have fled down the stairs to the root cellar in the first place. And if she hadn't, she never would have climbed up into another century, the world of the 1860s, and the chaos of Civil War...
Click: One Novel, Ten Authors
David AlmondLinda Sue Park - 2007
Gee traveled from Ireland to Russia, Japan to Australia, taking pictures of people at work, at war, in sports, and at play. Now Jason receives Gee's photographs and camera--though he has no idea what to do with them. And Gee leaves Maggie with the puzzle of the seven shells--one that might take her whole life to solve. As Maggie and Jason use these gifts, they will discover all the people their grandfather was...and all the people they might yet become. Ten bestselling, award-winning authors unite for a novel of brilliant writing, global adventure, and constant surprise.
Looking for JJ
Anne Cassidy - 2004
Later that day, only two of them came back. . . . Alice Tully knows exactly what happened that spring day six years ago, though it's still hard for her to believe it. She'll never be able to forget, even though she's trying to lead a normal life--she has a job, friends, and a boyfriend whom she adores. But Alice's past is dangerous, and violent, and sad . . . and it's about to rip her new life apart. A gripping and emotionally searing novel by accomplished British author Anne Cassidy, Looking for JJ infuses a terrifying subject with humanity and hope.