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Freedom #1
Freedom
Jani freaks when her parents tell her they are moving to the country, away from the home she loves, the friends she's had since kindergarten, and all the horses at the riding stable. Her only consolation is that she can bring Keeta, her beautiful pinto mare, with her.
But adventures await. While cleaning out the barn on their new property, Jani sees a swirl of movement beside the black, twisted stone in the corner. The barn is haunted!
With the help of a new friend, Jani sets out to solve the mystery behind the wild, angry spirit and set it free.
132 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2004
146 people are currently reading
145 people want to read
About the author
Angela Dorsey
48 books79 followersANGELA DORSEY currently lives on Vancouver Island and is thoroughly enjoying the ocean breezes, awesome hiking, and lack of snow! In the past, she has lived in a number of small towns throughout B.C., and loved them all.
She loves hiking, traveling, and animals, and has a tendency to name her pets after things that remind her of her coastal home, such as Misty, Raven, and Cedar.
Angela writes novels, screenplays, and non-fiction, and has a number of literary publications (short stories, poems, and postcard stories) and articles published as well.
She loves hiking, traveling, and animals, and has a tendency to name her pets after things that remind her of her coastal home, such as Misty, Raven, and Cedar.
Angela writes novels, screenplays, and non-fiction, and has a number of literary publications (short stories, poems, and postcard stories) and articles published as well.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
May 12, 2023
Angela Dorsey sure knows how to write a gripping, emotional story with several creepy bits that I actually FELT all the while presenting how dangerous and poisonous hatred is along with the true force and power of love in a very different way that makes one think and see this often beaten in message in an entirely and fresh new light.
Jani is a great, three dimensional character who feels like a very real person I could be friends with. She and her parents have such a tight bond and even though Jani’s upset they had to move that never makes her hate her parents like SO MANY of these types of plot lines have, so that was super nice to see. Keeta is an amazing horse, and Freedom’s story and arc was sad yet wonderful to watch unfold.
The ghost element was handled well without going too far into either a demonic direction or a too overly creepy one for MG. The only hiccup I have is a horse at the very end of the book (Sunny) is said to be a mare here but is a gelding for the rest of the series. 👀 Um, yeah that’s not odd at all. 😂
A really great story with light ghost elements and great characters that I would highly recommend for adults and kids alike!
‼️Content‼️
Language: dang
Violence: a horse was locked in a barn and starved to death (only talked about, never shown); horse abuse; a ghost horse charges girls and strikes another horse; injuries and blood (not detailed); a barn fire starts with girls and a horse inside (they escape)
Other: a ghost horse; in the past a man chased down wild horses and captured them; girls dig up an old horse grave and touch/see the bones; a ghost horse is “cursed”
Jani is a great, three dimensional character who feels like a very real person I could be friends with. She and her parents have such a tight bond and even though Jani’s upset they had to move that never makes her hate her parents like SO MANY of these types of plot lines have, so that was super nice to see. Keeta is an amazing horse, and Freedom’s story and arc was sad yet wonderful to watch unfold.
The ghost element was handled well without going too far into either a demonic direction or a too overly creepy one for MG. The only hiccup I have is a horse at the very end of the book (Sunny) is said to be a mare here but is a gelding for the rest of the series. 👀 Um, yeah that’s not odd at all. 😂
A really great story with light ghost elements and great characters that I would highly recommend for adults and kids alike!
‼️Content‼️
Language: dang
Violence: a horse was locked in a barn and starved to death (only talked about, never shown); horse abuse; a ghost horse charges girls and strikes another horse; injuries and blood (not detailed); a barn fire starts with girls and a horse inside (they escape)
Other: a ghost horse; in the past a man chased down wild horses and captured them; girls dig up an old horse grave and touch/see the bones; a ghost horse is “cursed”
February 26, 2013
This was a childhood favorite for me. It is a very good book, from what I remember, (maybe I should read it again and see if my opinion about it would change). I DO recommend it though and it is a good book, really loved it and always will. So if you like horses and wanna read it - then you should, Angela Dorsey is an old favorite of mine and her books are really good and nice to read.
August 16, 2020
Pulled this one from a box of my childhood books.
Back when I was younger this book would give me chills and freak me out - I always remembered it as the scary horse book.
Of course I've grown out of it at this age but it was a cute read. I didn't remember the twist at the end so that's something!
Back when I was younger this book would give me chills and freak me out - I always remembered it as the scary horse book.
Of course I've grown out of it at this age but it was a cute read. I didn't remember the twist at the end so that's something!
July 25, 2019
Spooky yet heartfelt!
February 8, 2021
This had a slow start. It was honestly boring for a while. I wanted to hurry up and get to the mystery, but it covered mundane stuff, like unpacking their boxes. I found myself wanting to skim and scan through this.
And I found the heroine to be whiny for a while, complaining about moving. I understand it, and would have felt the same way, but I just found it annoying.
And the mystery was weird when it did finally show up: moving black hole thing. Then something striking the rock and hearing a scream. Then the shadow is a horse,& it’s ‘whispering insane words just beyond hearing. For one eternal moment, Jani watched horrified as the chest of the nightmare horse bubbled and seethed, then grew solid again.’
Whaaaa?
It was odd that Jani's thoughts weren't italicized. Just confusing
There was hardly any info on horses in here, but I liked learning that wild horses have their territory and they don’t like leaving them much.
It was an interesting look at Freedom being cursed by the hatred of Mr. Hanson. How Jani thought hatred wasn’t enough to imprison Freedom. People have been hated in the past but it didn’t make him act differently. Like Hitler, who was stopped by the actions of others, not their hatred of him. She wondered of hatred was that powerful.
It wasn’t Mr. Hanson or the hobbles and ropes that prisoner Freedom’s spirit, it was her hatred of humans.
The scene of the fire was cool, how it was written with Freedom's spirit and the flames.
‘Freedom screamed and rested up toward the collapsing roof as the fiery beast leaped. Black and gold twisted together for an eternal instant, then the roof fell and the two were lost in a tower of exploding sparks that reached bright searching fingers high into the cloudy sky.’
Although I wished Freedom hadn't been in the barn as it was burning, although it was just her spirit and she wasn't being hurt by the flames.
On a side note, it was unrealistic how Freedom knew how to put her spirit to rest, and would neigh when the girls suggested something out loud. Like digging up the hobbles and ropes and bridle that were on her when she died, and also how Freedom knew the barn had to be torn down to finish everything. She does it herself, by scaring the girls and Keeta, and the candle knocks over and burns the barn down. It was a little cool she did that to help herself out though, and then helped get Keeta and Jani out of the barn so they wouldn't get hurt. Of course, this is a kid's book, so it's not all realistic.
The baby chicks sitting on Keeta, and one liking the spot between her ears was cute.
The rock in the barn placed over Freedom's grave with the bit of quartz, like a white heart among the dark was cool.
Jani went back to Hanson’s house and said two months had passed. It felt like only a few days! Where was the passage of time??
It was weird that Keeta’s foal was Freedom reincarnated, with the star shaped spot from the stone on its chest. And has the same blue eyes. It couldn't look like Freedom, because her and Keeta couldn't mate because Freedom was a female. It would make more sense if Freedom was a male horse. Jani realizes the father must be Captain, one of Megan's horses at the stables where Keeta was from. ...But the horse didn't resemble Captain, it looked like Freedom!
All black horses start out a mouse color, grayish brown, but they loose their baby hair and are black underneath.
It was nice seeing Jani miss her old friend Maria and old life less and less, and is happy with her new friend Penny, her new house and Freedom. That was a nice change and you could tell she would grow to like it there.
This ending, on top of the weird ghost taking shape, was too much for me.
Jani names the foal Freedom. I thought she was gonna give the foal to Penny, her new friend, so she'd have a horse of her own. But Penny ends up finding a palomino, her favorite kind of horse.
I’m glad a happy ending was spared for Hanson. I thought he deserved one too.
The heroine had an unusual name. I forgot it after, and got Jani confused with Jina...
This wasn't as good as the other horse books I bought along with this one. Probably my least favorite. Not the mystery I was expecting. There really wasn't much mystery to it. We knew the ghost was a horse, and the get the whole story from Mr. Hanson about what happened to the horse. The only "mystery" was in finding how to put Freedom's spirit to rest, and that wasn't a real mystery to me.
The writing and mystery was weak to me. It could have been a lot better.
I'm not really interested in reading the other books in this series. I'm not sure what else the author could do with the story.
And I found the heroine to be whiny for a while, complaining about moving. I understand it, and would have felt the same way, but I just found it annoying.
And the mystery was weird when it did finally show up: moving black hole thing. Then something striking the rock and hearing a scream. Then the shadow is a horse,& it’s ‘whispering insane words just beyond hearing. For one eternal moment, Jani watched horrified as the chest of the nightmare horse bubbled and seethed, then grew solid again.’
Whaaaa?
It was odd that Jani's thoughts weren't italicized. Just confusing
There was hardly any info on horses in here, but I liked learning that wild horses have their territory and they don’t like leaving them much.
It was an interesting look at Freedom being cursed by the hatred of Mr. Hanson. How Jani thought hatred wasn’t enough to imprison Freedom. People have been hated in the past but it didn’t make him act differently. Like Hitler, who was stopped by the actions of others, not their hatred of him. She wondered of hatred was that powerful.
It wasn’t Mr. Hanson or the hobbles and ropes that prisoner Freedom’s spirit, it was her hatred of humans.
The scene of the fire was cool, how it was written with Freedom's spirit and the flames.
‘Freedom screamed and rested up toward the collapsing roof as the fiery beast leaped. Black and gold twisted together for an eternal instant, then the roof fell and the two were lost in a tower of exploding sparks that reached bright searching fingers high into the cloudy sky.’
Although I wished Freedom hadn't been in the barn as it was burning, although it was just her spirit and she wasn't being hurt by the flames.
On a side note, it was unrealistic how Freedom knew how to put her spirit to rest, and would neigh when the girls suggested something out loud. Like digging up the hobbles and ropes and bridle that were on her when she died, and also how Freedom knew the barn had to be torn down to finish everything. She does it herself, by scaring the girls and Keeta, and the candle knocks over and burns the barn down. It was a little cool she did that to help herself out though, and then helped get Keeta and Jani out of the barn so they wouldn't get hurt. Of course, this is a kid's book, so it's not all realistic.
The baby chicks sitting on Keeta, and one liking the spot between her ears was cute.
The rock in the barn placed over Freedom's grave with the bit of quartz, like a white heart among the dark was cool.
Jani went back to Hanson’s house and said two months had passed. It felt like only a few days! Where was the passage of time??
It was weird that Keeta’s foal was Freedom reincarnated, with the star shaped spot from the stone on its chest. And has the same blue eyes. It couldn't look like Freedom, because her and Keeta couldn't mate because Freedom was a female. It would make more sense if Freedom was a male horse. Jani realizes the father must be Captain, one of Megan's horses at the stables where Keeta was from. ...But the horse didn't resemble Captain, it looked like Freedom!
All black horses start out a mouse color, grayish brown, but they loose their baby hair and are black underneath.
It was nice seeing Jani miss her old friend Maria and old life less and less, and is happy with her new friend Penny, her new house and Freedom. That was a nice change and you could tell she would grow to like it there.
This ending, on top of the weird ghost taking shape, was too much for me.
Jani names the foal Freedom. I thought she was gonna give the foal to Penny, her new friend, so she'd have a horse of her own. But Penny ends up finding a palomino, her favorite kind of horse.
I’m glad a happy ending was spared for Hanson. I thought he deserved one too.
The heroine had an unusual name. I forgot it after, and got Jani confused with Jina...
This wasn't as good as the other horse books I bought along with this one. Probably my least favorite. Not the mystery I was expecting. There really wasn't much mystery to it. We knew the ghost was a horse, and the get the whole story from Mr. Hanson about what happened to the horse. The only "mystery" was in finding how to put Freedom's spirit to rest, and that wasn't a real mystery to me.
The writing and mystery was weak to me. It could have been a lot better.
I'm not really interested in reading the other books in this series. I'm not sure what else the author could do with the story.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 14, 2021
Great Story!💜
A heartfelt yet somewhat spooky story. I always enjoy a wonderful horse story, but with the added mystery it makes it even better. Moments of sadness, anger and love this book has it all. Aven Shore absolutely brought these characters to life. Her voice was a perfect fit for this book.
Well done!! This is book 1 and can be read as a standalone.
I highly recommend this book!
Sisters Spotlight 💜
A heartfelt yet somewhat spooky story. I always enjoy a wonderful horse story, but with the added mystery it makes it even better. Moments of sadness, anger and love this book has it all. Aven Shore absolutely brought these characters to life. Her voice was a perfect fit for this book.
Well done!! This is book 1 and can be read as a standalone.
I highly recommend this book!
Sisters Spotlight 💜
November 1, 2020
Freedom, book one in the Freedom Series was recently available for free download on Amazon. I’m quite a fan of Angela’s supernatural horse books for younger readers. So it should come as no surprise that I was eager to download this one to read.
Read more at https://equus-blog.com/freedom-series...
Read more at https://equus-blog.com/freedom-series...
April 10, 2020
This was an enjoyable, well written book with engaging characters that will hold your attention, and a great ghost story that will thrill the kids - a perfect camp fire story! Jenny and Penny's tale is incredibly touching, and does have happy ending, I would definately recomend this book,
June 24, 2012
I remember reading this! This book scared the crap out of me when I was younger. Now I wonder what happened to it... I read this several times.
January 26, 2020
I love ghost stories and I love horses. What could be better then combining the two? The ghost horse is awesome, and the story unfolds at a cracking pace. I could not put it down.
July 6, 2021
Wow, this is a dramatic and different pony story. A girl in modern America is unhappy about moving from her home town and friends, but the new house has a small field for her skewbald mare, and life starts looking up. Then our heroine discovers the hard way that the old barn is haunted, and by something that doesn't like people.
This modern fantasy crosses generations and teaches a great deal of everyday stable management, while carrying strong themes of helping others, atoning and redemption. The story can get pretty scary.
Angela Dorsey is going from strength to strength and her knowledge of real-life horses always shines through her fiction.
This is an unbiased review.
This modern fantasy crosses generations and teaches a great deal of everyday stable management, while carrying strong themes of helping others, atoning and redemption. The story can get pretty scary.
Angela Dorsey is going from strength to strength and her knowledge of real-life horses always shines through her fiction.
This is an unbiased review.
December 10, 2024
I read this initially as a kid.
The second time around was just as great! I really like the whole concept and how the ghost is presented. The world isn't magic or anything like that, just an anomaly that makes for a cute story.
I like the characters and progression. I enjoyed how Dorsey didn't bore us with the details of Jani being at school and left it at, "she rushed home from school" and things of that nature. I really, really liked how the girls fessed up to being the ones that caused the problem with the barn.
The ending was perfect. I really couldn't imagine a better one, and I am very excited to keep going in the series!
The second time around was just as great! I really like the whole concept and how the ghost is presented. The world isn't magic or anything like that, just an anomaly that makes for a cute story.
I like the characters and progression. I enjoyed how Dorsey didn't bore us with the details of Jani being at school and left it at, "she rushed home from school" and things of that nature. I really, really liked how the girls fessed up to being the ones that caused the problem with the barn.
The ending was perfect. I really couldn't imagine a better one, and I am very excited to keep going in the series!
July 6, 2025
I loved this set of stories
I have enjoyed reading this set of stories and love that both had happy endings,also that freedom returned to find her friends from when she was traped as the spirit of her wild self that was treated with hate but even as a spirit she learned to love a young girl and her friend,she remberd them when she was reborn and given her name back in life.I would like to say thank you for all your hard work and may fortune smile 😃on you always 😁from a bookworm that loves to read
I have enjoyed reading this set of stories and love that both had happy endings,also that freedom returned to find her friends from when she was traped as the spirit of her wild self that was treated with hate but even as a spirit she learned to love a young girl and her friend,she remberd them when she was reborn and given her name back in life.I would like to say thank you for all your hard work and may fortune smile 😃on you always 😁from a bookworm that loves to read
August 14, 2024
I read it a quite long time ago, and re-read it just now, still love the vibes
Plot: 5/5
Romance: none (well, if we count the horses, then I guess like 3/5?)
Logical?: usually
Slow?: the first half
Are the decisions made understandable?: sometimes
Would I re-read this?: I would and I did
Same, worse or better than expected?: better
Would I recommend this to anyone?: yes, for bored horse riders
Did it make me cry?: not that kind of book, no
Plot: 5/5
Romance: none (well, if we count the horses, then I guess like 3/5?)
Logical?: usually
Slow?: the first half
Are the decisions made understandable?: sometimes
Would I re-read this?: I would and I did
Same, worse or better than expected?: better
Would I recommend this to anyone?: yes, for bored horse riders
Did it make me cry?: not that kind of book, no
March 8, 2021
Cute and Fast Read!
What a great story about a phantom filly named Freedom who lived in the small barn owned by Jani and her parents. Jani and her new friend Penny wanted to befriend the ghost horse so that they could find a way to free her. And now that I've read this story I can't wait to get into the next installment.
What a great story about a phantom filly named Freedom who lived in the small barn owned by Jani and her parents. Jani and her new friend Penny wanted to befriend the ghost horse so that they could find a way to free her. And now that I've read this story I can't wait to get into the next installment.
May 28, 2022
This was a very nice sweet story. I enjoyed the little bit of mystery in it and the amount of caring that Jani shows towards the horses.
The only part I didn't like, was the little bit of attitude Jani had towards her parents in the beginning.
Other than that it was a very nice story, easy reading, good pace and I loved the ending that Freedom got.
The only part I didn't like, was the little bit of attitude Jani had towards her parents in the beginning.
Other than that it was a very nice story, easy reading, good pace and I loved the ending that Freedom got.
June 19, 2022
FREEDOM: SPIRIT OF A MUSTANG
I liked it because it's so beautiful And I just really like freedom What I don't like about it Is I don't have all the books And the reason I chose this rating Is because What I said before It is so beautiful And my favorite character in this book Is freedom.
I liked it because it's so beautiful And I just really like freedom What I don't like about it Is I don't have all the books And the reason I chose this rating Is because What I said before It is so beautiful And my favorite character in this book Is freedom.
June 5, 2023
All of the Freedom books were also books I really adored as a kid, and I still remember most of what happened in them. Loved this series.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews