Stevie: The Inside Story

Saddle Club Inside Stories

by Bonnie Bryant

Stevie Lake is big trouble. She's failing classes and has to pull up her grades or it's summer school and no riding. She has one last chance to redeem herself: Write a report explaining why she hasn't done her schoolwork--and make the explanation good. She's serious and committed. She's going to get this assignment done if it kills her. Her friends will help with encouraging emails, phone calls--whatever it takes to get Stevie through this crisis. But it's up to Stevie--can she do it?.

Genres: Horses, Childrens, Animals, Young Adult

304 pages, Paperback

First published January 12, 1999

About the author

American author of children's books. She is best known for creating the intermediate horse book series The Saddle Club, which was published from October 1988 until April 2001. The Saddle Club chronicled the adventures of thirteen-year-old Lisa Atwood and twelve-year-olds Stephanie "Stevie" Lake and Carole Hanson. The series was static in time; the girls never aged in 101 books, 7 special editions, and 3 Inside Stories.

Bonnie Bryant also wrote two spin-off series: Pony Tails, aimed at beginning readers, and Pine Hollow, aimed at teenage readers. The 16 Pony Tails books followed the lives of eight-year-olds May Grover, Corey Takamura, and Jasmine James. Pine Hollow featured Carole, Lisa, Stevie, and their new friends in a series set four years after The Saddle Club. Unlike The Saddle Club, Pine Hollow conformed to a realistic timeline. The 17 books took place over the span of less than a year. Later a television show called The Saddle Club, based on the books, was filmed in Australia.

Bonnie Bryant wrote at least 38 The Saddle Club books and 2 Pine Hollow books herself; after that they were taken over by a team of ghostwriters, a common practice in long-running children's book series. Ghostwriters for the Saddle Club and Pine Hollow books included Caitlin Macy (sometimes credited as Caitlin C. Macy), Catherine Hapka, Sallie Bissell, Kimberly Brubaker Bradley, Helen Geraghty, Tina deVaron, Cat Johnston, Minna Jung, and Sheila Prescott-Vessey.

Bonnie Bryant is also the author of many novelizations of movies, including Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Karate Kid, and Honey, I Blew Up the Kid, written under her married name, B.B. Hiller. She also collaborated in the ghostwriting of The Baby-sitters Club Super Special #14: BSC in the USA, published under the name of its creator, Ann M. Martin.

Bonnie Bryant was born and raised in New York City. She met her husband, Neil W. Hiller, in college, where they both worked on the campus newspaper. They had two sons, Emmons Hiller and Andrew Hiller. Neil Hiller died in 1989. Many of Bonnie's books are dedicated to him.
***from wikipedia.org

Reviews

[Meena · Rating 4 out of 5]

I watched the Saddle Club TV show when I was young and this book reminded me why I loved the series so much. The whole premise of this book is that Stevie needs to write an essay explaining why she has done really bad in school recently (I think a lot of students can relate to this as life is busy at times). Knowing Stevie though, she isn't going to write just any old essay. She is going to write an essay that is a mix of everything. This unique format is exactly why I liked this book more than I thought I would. Not only did it make the story more interesting, it also helped me understand Stevie as a character more. All in all, the book was a fun read that I think all ages can enjoy.

[Kessiah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book mostly to relive my horse girl days, when I was obsessed with any and everything to do with horses. This book is a cute sort of compilation/retelling of three consecutive Saddle Club books, and it’s actually the only one I’ve ever read of that series, but it was quite enjoyable for a quick and nostalgic read. I’d certainly recommend it to any middle/grade school readers, especially if they like horses.

[Stephanie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a retelling three regular saddle club books that i'd already read.

[Lizzy · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the things I always thought was weak in the original series was the lack of personality in some of the books. All the characters had some basic stereotypes, but the dialogue could be a little weak. This book was a goofy, interesting look into the characters' heads, which I really enjoyed. And c'mon people, these are middle school girls. You can't expect top-notch writing.

[Sofiya · Rating 1 out of 5]

Really boring, didn't even think about finishing it.

[Katlyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Funny stevie strikes, again, again.

[Marnina · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some parts were very funny...but it could have been better