A fresh, unexpected horse-kid series from an unexpected horse-kid herself, Kimberly Brubaker Bradley, award-winning and #1 New York Times-bestselling author of The War That Saved My Life and Fighting WordsHarper’s life has just exploded. Her parents are getting a divorce. And she suspects her best friend, Cat, may have known the reason for it long before she did. Now Harper and her mom are starting over in a cramped house, in a new town, where everything feels unfamiliar, including the riding barn next door. Harper’s never been around horses before. And
no, she does not want to learn to ride. Then with no warning, a truck dumps a starved and neglected horse right in Harper's yard. She has no idea what to do with a
live horse let alone a nearly dead one. But one look at the horse’s huge eyes and his skinny body, and something inside Harper unlocks. The horse is named Phoenix, she decides. And she will not give up on him. Neither, it turns out, will Phoenix give up on her. She doesn’t know it yet, but this is Harper’s first step—toward new friends, new challenges, new adventures. Toward riding.
Kimberly Brubaker Bradley grew up horse-obsessed in a tragically non-horsey place and family. When she was eighteen and went to college, she took the reins in her own hands and hasn't stopped riding since. Kim foxhunted, competed at mid-amateur levels of eventing, and was the longtime "Boss Mare" of the Holston Pony Club for kids in her Tennessee hometown—a big part of her inspiration for this series—all while she was busy writing Newbery Honor-winning novels like
The War That Saved My Life and
Fighting Words. Kim is a fierce advocate for horses and the value of the human-horse connection. This is the horse-kid series of her heart.
“
Phoenix is a story of hope rising stubbornly above despair.
Beautiful, authentic, and so moving, it’s a gripping and heart-expanding read.
I read it in one sitting—it is wonderful.”
—Carrie Seim, author of
Horse Girl and
Horse Camp: A Horse Girl Mystery "
Phoenix has
all the charm, wit, and fierce intelligence readers have come to expect from Kimberly Brubaker Bradley. She makes bold choices as she both educates and entertains. You don't have to love horses to love this book, but you just might find you do after reading
Phoenix."
—Holly Goldberg Sloan,
New York Times bestselling author of
Counting by 7s and
Short
