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Post by Claire on Jun 1, 2008 16:54:02 GMT 1
As per my post on the modern pony books thread, thought it might be fun if we could try and find the best post-1999 pony book. After all our constant moans about the standard of modern pony books, especially after the 1990s, is there anything decent out there that was written in the 21st century? Please post your suggestions here
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Post by haffyfan on Jun 1, 2008 17:12:38 GMT 1
Alyssa Brugmans Shelby series - lovely Australian pony books www.alyssabrugman.com.au/pony_books.htmThe first two are great...I am just starting Hot Potato...and not a hint of pink anywhere! I love Shelby, she is so 'normal', she doesn't have a fantastic pony (in flashy/completion) terms and neither does she have rich and supportive horsey parents (all of which are quite often the norm in a lot of pony books), neither can I ever see Blue becoming a world beater. I love the way however Alyssa sells his strong points of being kind and dependable, which of course in real life would make him worth his weight in gold. The adult characters I feel are far more more developed than they normally are in books of this genre. Certainly in many more vintage titles they are very 2d characters mentioned fleetingly in passing, if at all. Of course in this day and age it is no longer the accepted norm for children to just go off and look after themself for days on end etc etc so the adults do have an important role to fulfill within the story.
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Post by haffyfan on Jun 1, 2008 17:20:34 GMT 1
And the Shelley Petersons Stagestruck, which is if it's possible both a sequel to Dancer and to Abbey Malone (which just misses out as was published in 1999). You could maybe argue that both Abbey Malone and Stagestruck are not in the strictest sense 'pony books' but the horses do play an important role in the stories, particially in Stagestruck. Stagestruck isn't actually on here but the other two are www.sentex.net/~pql/foxridge/frftour01.html
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Post by susanb on Jun 1, 2008 21:23:50 GMT 1
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Post by Claire on Jun 3, 2008 21:41:22 GMT 1
Blast! Blind Beauty by K M Peyton just misses out as published in 1999. I was going to nominate that as its brilliant. Will have to have another think. Just noticed none of the suggestions so far have been by British writers BTW!
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Post by kunuma on Jun 5, 2008 19:47:34 GMT 1
Hard one - I could give you a loooong list of appalling ones - but a couple that did stand out from the crowd, OK not that far - but an improvement - were by someone called Victoria Holmes. I have 'The Horse from the Sea' and 'Rider in the Dark'. There is also 'Heart of Fire'.
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Post by garej on Jun 6, 2008 20:35:22 GMT 1
OK.
Defiance At The Inn (by Mary May) was published in 2001. A Pocketful of Silver (also by Mary May) was published in 2005.
Both follow more of a traditional approach rather than this modern crap - so this is a good contender.
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Post by trixiepony on Jun 7, 2008 10:57:36 GMT 1
Im all for the Alyssa Brugman's Shelby books there are 5 in the serise now For Sale or Swop, Beginner's Luck, Hot Potato, Hide& Seek and the last one Greener Pastures. I cryed buckets when I read the ending, but I wont tell you why as that will spoil it for you.
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Post by haffyfan on Jun 7, 2008 11:24:01 GMT 1
Is greener Pastures on sale over there now then Trixiepony?
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Post by Claire on Jun 7, 2008 18:08:57 GMT 1
Also on the subject of Alyssa Brugman, is this one of hers a pony related book. I know its a fantasy/sci fi but has it a horse element too?
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Post by haffyfan on Jun 7, 2008 20:00:50 GMT 1
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Post by trixiepony on Jun 8, 2008 4:34:15 GMT 1
Yes I have it and read it in a day I was so into it, Its a good finish to the series. I didn't know about the sci-fi book I'll have to look it up.
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Post by trixiepony on Jun 8, 2008 5:59:43 GMT 1
I got it on Wednesday 4th June and read it In a day I loved it so much. It did mack me cry.
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Post by Claire on Jun 29, 2008 10:53:31 GMT 1
Have been trying without success to get hold of any of the Alyssa Brugman books so I will have to be boring and stick with the more well-known writers. My favourite pony books of the 2000s are the Winners series by Sam Alexander and Small Gains by K M Peyton. What is really strange is that I found loads of really good ones that were published in 1999!
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Post by Claire on Jul 5, 2008 13:22:45 GMT 1
Just about finished reading Tears for a Tall Horse by Anne Wigley (which I mentioned briefly in another thread). Altho not a classic this was pretty good. it was actually a bit like her other book Red Horse Haunting, both of which feature a horse related mystery in the past and a ghost.
The book was actually published in the USA even tho author is British. Unfortunately this led to the main criticism of the book which was its Americanisation. Even tho it is definitely set in England (mentions English towns and the mystery is to do with the English Civil War era) there are a lot of American terms in such as Mom for mother, and dime for money. The worst bit is the RSPCA man in it has been transformed into the ASPCA (American Society for Protection of Animals) which is just ridiculous. These changes may have been made to make American kids more comfortable reading but are ludicrous and in fact insult the intelligence of the young readers. Surely any child knows that if they are reading a book set in England English terms and currency will be used. But apart from that quibble very good read.
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Post by susanb on Jul 5, 2008 19:57:23 GMT 1
Claire....haven't read Tears for a Tall Horse yet (though it's in my tbr pile), but couldn't agree more re the "Americanisation"...I recently read one of Anthony Horowitz's Diamond Brothers books (Falcon's Malteser) in the US version, and they'd done so much to it it was virtually unreadable....the location is supposedly London, but the boy refers to "Alexander Hamilton" on the money.....I found myself thinking "huh?", and flipping back to the beginning to see if I was delusional in my understanding of the book's setting. That's just one example, but the book was littered with them.
Argggh!!!!! Why? They didn't do that to books when I was a child....if they bothered to do anything at all, they popped a little glossery in the back of the book with a translation/explanation (i.e. a pound is a unit of British money, it's worth about "x" in American dollars)....ususally they didn't bother and left the reader to figure it out for themselves (which we did).
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Post by Claire on Jul 15, 2008 16:42:44 GMT 1
Just read another quite good modern one. Pony Farm Mystery by Pamela Kavanagh. Once again tho for us UK readers bloomin hard to get hold of here as its published in USA. Its a mystery type story with a bit of a mystical element (post Harry Potter seems even pony books have to have magic) which works better than that in the Pony Club Secrets books. Mercifully it doesnt have the Americanisation of Tears for a Tall Horse, in fact you cant really tell whether its set in the UK or US as doent have anything country-specific.
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