Post by Claire on May 6, 2012 15:30:47 GMT 1
KEEPING SECRETS by MAGGIE DANA
MAIN CHARACTERS:
Kate – our heroine.
Holly - teenager confined to wheelchair after an accident, whom Kate is acting as summer companion to.
Angela – a rich winning-obsessed girl with an overbearing mother.
Magician – Holly’s horse, a black gelding.
SUMMARY:
The first book in the Timber Ridge Riders series.
After feeling that her careless actions have led to a horse’s death at her last stable, Kate hides herself away from all contact and even thought of horses and despite having been a promising rider, vows never to ride again. However when she takes on a summer job helping a wheel-chair bound teenager called Holly she is plunged reluctantly back into the world of horses: Holly’s mother has her own stables and Holly is hoping to overcome her injuries and ride once more. By pretending to be frightened of horses and allergic to them she manages to avoid contact with them for a while but soon she knows she is falling under the spell of horses once more. But how can she admit she loves horses without exposing the dark secret that she has caused the death of a horse to the rest of the yard? Holly comes up with the answer, but rich and arrogant Angela has taken an instant dislike towards Kate and will do everything to keep her out of the way including exposing her secret….
REVIEW:
A little background before I begin the review. This is a re-working and updating of a book first published in the 1980s called No Time For Secrets. That book was the first part of a series (Best Friends) and all of the series is to be updated in a similar way. The books are being substantially altered so are in effect new books.
Keeping Secrets is a very good traditional pony story, which, despite being published in the USA, harks back to the golden age of the British pony novel. Perhaps this is due to the fact that the author grew up and learned to ride in England, perhaps it’s because it still retains some of the flavour of the older original. It sticks fairly closely to the plot-line of a typical traditional pony story, with a heroine struggling against various obstacles, including a rich snooty rival, until her good riding and equally good heart win the day. However the author brings the story up to date with sassy heroines, a modern fast pace and dialogue, and a little dash of romance in the form of a cute boy. The basic horsy plot is also given extra dimension with both the mystery element of our heroine’s dark secret, which she tries to hide from her new friends, and with the interesting sub-plot of Holly’s injuries and the riding for the disabled/therapeutic riding aspect.
The main characters are believable and three-dimensional. Kate is an excellent heroine, very sympathetic. Perhaps she is a little too good to be true but she provides a nice role model for young readers. Angela makes a satisfying villain: snooty, not sympathetic to her horses and obsessed with wining - the complete anti-thesis of our heroine. However she is saved from being overly stereo-typed by the fact that we see glimpses of her humanity trying to break through. It seems clear that her unpleasant character has been moulded by her awful mother, a typical overpowering ‘show mom’. There are hints that if she can break free of her mother’s influence Angela could be a decent person, something that Kate herself suspects when she catches a glimpse of the real Angela locked inside the girl her mother has turned her into:
“Angela turned and looked back. Her eyes connected with Kate’s and for a split second Kate felt as if they were nothing more complicated than two teenage girls who loved horses....”
However what I really like most about this book is the fact that it emphasises that winning, although nice, is not all-important – something than many modern pony stories tend to forget in their obsession with making sure their heroines go straight to the top. That it manages to do this in a book in which roughly a third of the story-line is given over to a riding competition, seems to suggest that it is a heart-felt view of the author herself. Kate’s actions in helping a fellow competitor, even though it may give him an advantage in the competition, are contrasted to Angela who even wears spurs to make her mount go faster and resorts to sabotage to beat her rivals. Kate however has been brought up to know that winning is not all-important:
“Her heart skipped a beat as she heard her own mother’s voice the day of her first show. She was seven and riding Webster, the barn’s beginner pony. They hadn’t won a ribbon. Hadn’t even come close, but her mother had hugged them both and said it didn’t matter, that knowing you’d tried your best and feeling good about yourself was more important than winning ribbons. Pity Mrs. Dean hadn’t taught Angela the same lesson.”
This conviction of Kate’s leads to her unexpected actions at the end of the competition which bring far more depth to the book and the character than if she had been all gung-ho for winning at all costs.
I also like the fact that the horses are credited with actually doing some of the work! Kate is caring and appreciative of her horses. She acknowledges that her mount has helped her do well in the competition by taking charge in moments when she was uncertain.
This is an excellent choice of book for pony mad children, not only is it a well-written, fast paced story, which will keep them interested, it also instills good values in a non-didactic or preachy way. The fact that it has a traditional almost British flavour will also give it appeal to UK readers who don’t normally warm to American horse stories. Adult readers will find none of the irritating modern obsessions with fluffiness, glam or winning at all costs, to mar their enjoyment of the story.
In summary, a traditional plot given a fresh and modern re-working. I look forward to reading more in the series.
4 HORSESHOES
MAIN CHARACTERS:
Kate – our heroine.
Holly - teenager confined to wheelchair after an accident, whom Kate is acting as summer companion to.
Angela – a rich winning-obsessed girl with an overbearing mother.
Magician – Holly’s horse, a black gelding.
SUMMARY:
The first book in the Timber Ridge Riders series.
After feeling that her careless actions have led to a horse’s death at her last stable, Kate hides herself away from all contact and even thought of horses and despite having been a promising rider, vows never to ride again. However when she takes on a summer job helping a wheel-chair bound teenager called Holly she is plunged reluctantly back into the world of horses: Holly’s mother has her own stables and Holly is hoping to overcome her injuries and ride once more. By pretending to be frightened of horses and allergic to them she manages to avoid contact with them for a while but soon she knows she is falling under the spell of horses once more. But how can she admit she loves horses without exposing the dark secret that she has caused the death of a horse to the rest of the yard? Holly comes up with the answer, but rich and arrogant Angela has taken an instant dislike towards Kate and will do everything to keep her out of the way including exposing her secret….
REVIEW:
A little background before I begin the review. This is a re-working and updating of a book first published in the 1980s called No Time For Secrets. That book was the first part of a series (Best Friends) and all of the series is to be updated in a similar way. The books are being substantially altered so are in effect new books.
Keeping Secrets is a very good traditional pony story, which, despite being published in the USA, harks back to the golden age of the British pony novel. Perhaps this is due to the fact that the author grew up and learned to ride in England, perhaps it’s because it still retains some of the flavour of the older original. It sticks fairly closely to the plot-line of a typical traditional pony story, with a heroine struggling against various obstacles, including a rich snooty rival, until her good riding and equally good heart win the day. However the author brings the story up to date with sassy heroines, a modern fast pace and dialogue, and a little dash of romance in the form of a cute boy. The basic horsy plot is also given extra dimension with both the mystery element of our heroine’s dark secret, which she tries to hide from her new friends, and with the interesting sub-plot of Holly’s injuries and the riding for the disabled/therapeutic riding aspect.
The main characters are believable and three-dimensional. Kate is an excellent heroine, very sympathetic. Perhaps she is a little too good to be true but she provides a nice role model for young readers. Angela makes a satisfying villain: snooty, not sympathetic to her horses and obsessed with wining - the complete anti-thesis of our heroine. However she is saved from being overly stereo-typed by the fact that we see glimpses of her humanity trying to break through. It seems clear that her unpleasant character has been moulded by her awful mother, a typical overpowering ‘show mom’. There are hints that if she can break free of her mother’s influence Angela could be a decent person, something that Kate herself suspects when she catches a glimpse of the real Angela locked inside the girl her mother has turned her into:
“Angela turned and looked back. Her eyes connected with Kate’s and for a split second Kate felt as if they were nothing more complicated than two teenage girls who loved horses....”
However what I really like most about this book is the fact that it emphasises that winning, although nice, is not all-important – something than many modern pony stories tend to forget in their obsession with making sure their heroines go straight to the top. That it manages to do this in a book in which roughly a third of the story-line is given over to a riding competition, seems to suggest that it is a heart-felt view of the author herself. Kate’s actions in helping a fellow competitor, even though it may give him an advantage in the competition, are contrasted to Angela who even wears spurs to make her mount go faster and resorts to sabotage to beat her rivals. Kate however has been brought up to know that winning is not all-important:
“Her heart skipped a beat as she heard her own mother’s voice the day of her first show. She was seven and riding Webster, the barn’s beginner pony. They hadn’t won a ribbon. Hadn’t even come close, but her mother had hugged them both and said it didn’t matter, that knowing you’d tried your best and feeling good about yourself was more important than winning ribbons. Pity Mrs. Dean hadn’t taught Angela the same lesson.”
This conviction of Kate’s leads to her unexpected actions at the end of the competition which bring far more depth to the book and the character than if she had been all gung-ho for winning at all costs.
I also like the fact that the horses are credited with actually doing some of the work! Kate is caring and appreciative of her horses. She acknowledges that her mount has helped her do well in the competition by taking charge in moments when she was uncertain.
This is an excellent choice of book for pony mad children, not only is it a well-written, fast paced story, which will keep them interested, it also instills good values in a non-didactic or preachy way. The fact that it has a traditional almost British flavour will also give it appeal to UK readers who don’t normally warm to American horse stories. Adult readers will find none of the irritating modern obsessions with fluffiness, glam or winning at all costs, to mar their enjoyment of the story.
In summary, a traditional plot given a fresh and modern re-working. I look forward to reading more in the series.
4 HORSESHOES