A Hundred Horses

January 1, 2014

Gr 3-7-Eleven-year-old Nell Green is unhappy about having to spend her school vacation on a farm with her aunt and two younger cousins whom she hardly knows. Once there, however, she easily adjusts to her aunt's gentle nature and the devotion of her cousins. She meets their kindhearted neighbor Rita, who is grieving the recent loss of her husband. His death has prompted Rita to sell her farm animals, including her herd of 99 horses. Nell also meets the wild child Angel, who thunders into her life on a horse and takes her precious leather bag that contains an old tin carousel. As Nell attempts to retrieve her bag, she gets drawn into an adventure; there are missing animals, a midnight horse ride, and a legend about the magic of the hundredth horse. Depending on who is telling the story, the hundredth horse to enter a herd can either ruin the whole lot or signify the arrival of something special. Nell and Angel develop a mysterious friend/foe relationship as Nell begins to wonder who or what Angel really is. The author intertwines the characters and story line with finesse, keeping readers guessing about Angel's identity and the appearance of the hundredth horse until the end of the evenly paced plot. A touch of magic delivers a satisfying and positive conclusion.-D. Maria LaRocco, Cuyahoga Public Library, Strongsville, OH

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Starred review from November 1, 2013
Grades 4-7 *Starred Review* A two-week stay in the country brings together two lonely 11-year-old girls and an unusual foal named Lunar that may just be an angel able to bring thingsboth farms and people overwhelmed by lossback to life. Fearful, overprogrammed Nell has been sent to visit her aunt and cousins, but she spends much of her time at a nearby farm with a grieving widow who is planning to sell her herd of horses. In the stable there, Nell is allowed to restore the toy carousel left behind by her father when he abandoned the family, which she has secretly brought along with her on her trip. However, the stable also houses runaway Angel, who is hiding the foal she has stolen, having overheard plans to put Lunar down. These two complicated and appealing young people share more than a place to hide. As Nell gradually comes to understand her own needs and motives, as well as Angel's, so do readers. Running throughout this moving, well-crafted first-person English import is a local superstition about a herd of 100 horses. Will Lunar, the one hundredth horse, spoil the widow's herd or save the captive princess, as in Angel's version? Friendship, self-discovery, a dreamlike middle-of-the-night horseback ride, and a satisfying ending make for certain reader appeal.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)

November 1, 2013
Eleven-year-old Nell is frustrated and unhappy. A loner, she's miserable in the busy life her mother has crafted for her. Now her mom is leaving her for a long holiday with her aunt Liv, who works a small farm. She secretly takes with her a case full of the parts of an almost-magical toy merry-go-round her long-gone father created, the only bit of him not expunged from their house. Right after her arrival, a strange girl--Angel--on a large horse steals the case. Nell decides the only way to get it back is to find her. But Angel has a reputation for lying and stealing, so when a nanny goat and a few other things--including a horse--go missing, she's blamed. Rita, Liv's recently widowed and grieving neighbor, holds keys to the mystery of Angel's background, information that is disclosed at a deliberate pace that heightens the sense of mystery and enhances the gradual reveal. Only Angel and Nell together have the power to put the many problems right, if they can find a way to cooperate. Although Nell's voice sometimes feels a bit too adult for her age, it's a minor flaw. As in A Dog Called Homeless (2012), Lean effortlessly stitches a moving tale right to the very edge of fantasy without ever tearing the satisfying believability of her story. (Fiction. 10-14)

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July 1, 2014
Eleven-year-old Nell doesn't fit in anywhere, not at home nor at school. During a visit with her aunt in the English countryside, she finds a kindred soul in mischievous but goodhearted wild girl Angel. The isolated rural setting makes a believable backdrop for this story, a mix of realism and fantasy, about the fates of two young girls and a local legend.

(Copyright 2014 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)