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The Secret Horses of Briar Hill

Megan Shepherd (Goodreads Author)

really liked it 4.00 · Rating details · 1,606 ratings · 446 reviews

The Secret Horses of Briar Hill shows readers everywhere that there is color in our world -- they just need to know where to look. There are winged horses that live in the mirrors of Briar Hill hospital -- the mirrors that reflect the elegant rooms once home to a princess, now filled with sick children. Only Emmaline can see the creatures. It is her secret.

One morning, Emm ...more

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Hardcover, 220 pages

Published October 11th 2016 by Delacorte Books for Young Readers

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really liked it 4.00 ·

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· 1,606 ratings · 446 reviews

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Nov 27, 2016 Maggie Stiefvater rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: recommended, middle-grade

Sometimes a book feels like it has always existed. It’s not that it’s predictable nor unadventurous, merely that you can’t shake the feeling as you turn pages that it is familiar — you’ve read it before or just known that it existed for so long that it feels as if you had.

The Secret Horses of Briar Hill was that way for me. Other blurbs for it compare it to The Secret Garden (it does have a secret garden) or The Chronicles of Narnia (it does have tiny British children in big houses), but really, Sometimes a book feels like it has always existed. It’s not that it’s predictable nor unadventurous, merely that you can’t shake the feeling as you turn pages that it is familiar — you’ve read it before or just known that it existed for so long that it feels as if you had.

The Secret Horses of Briar Hill was that way for me. Other blurbs for it compare it to The Secret Garden (it does have a secret garden) or The Chronicles of Narnia (it does have tiny British children in big houses), but really, I think what they mean is this: it feels like it has been sitting invisibly on the shelf next to those classics for decades, waiting to be discovered. It feels old. Right. Uncovered, rather than written.

It is a simple story: a girl in a World War II children’s hospital —Emmaline — has been seeing winged horses in the mirrors of the building. When she discovers that an injured pegasus has arrived in a secret garden, an intimate and wintery quest unfolds as Emmaline performs tasks for the Horse Lord. It is a book about the magic of hidden places and the colorless misery of war and also a book about kindness in all its forms. Originally, I had typed that it was also a book about illness, but the draining fight against the “stillwaters” in Emmaline’s lungs is really just another battle in the war devastating Britain.

The Secret Horses of Briar Hill is a morsel of a book, just 231 pages on my e-reader. I read it in a single hour and a half session, which felt perfect: the ability to linger in the shivering atmosphere of the book without interruption seemed right. Theoretically this is a middle grade novel, but I can’t decide how I feel about that. I would hand this immediately to someone who had enjoyed CODE NAME VERITY or FROM SALT TO THE SEA or any of the other YA historicals I’ve loved within recent memory and I’d also hand it to any adult who grew up with the classics mentioned above and expect them to enjoy it, but I’m curious to know how my eleven and twelve year olds feel about it. So much of what made this book poignant to me was empathizing with the unsaid experiences of the adults around the children in the book, and although the book would work fine without that insight, there is one beautifully heartbreaking moment in particular that becomes muted if you aren’t paying close attention to the adults in the scene.

I adored it. It is not a bombastic novel nor an epic novel. It’s a sweet, sad, beautiful whisper in your ear. Enjoy. ...more

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Aug 07, 2016 Lola rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: middle-grade, historical-fiction, world-war-ii, magical-realism, animals

There are winged horses that live in the mirrors of Briar Hill hospital...

4.5 stars. The Chronicles of Narnia meets The Secret Garden in this enchanting and deeply felt story of friendship, hope and courage.

The Secret Horses of Briar Hill is everything a middle grade novel should be.

Majestic, magical horses dwell the Briar Hill hospital. To its patients, they are invisible, but Emmaline sees them in the mirrors everywhere she goes… and now one has found her way in the sundial garden.

But she n ...more

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Oct 22, 2016 karen rated it really liked it

Recommended to karen by: Tadiana ✩Night Owl☽

Shelves: kiddiwinx

i definitely enjoyed reading this book, but like Rooftoppers, i have a feeling it would have been something i enjoyed even more if i had read it when i was a little girl, one of those books you read during those soft, impressionable whitebread years, which stick to your soul and become a part of who you are. i have a lot of those books, the most important of which was Island of the Blue Dolphins, and while this is nothing like that in theme or tone, it gives me the same impression of having that ...more

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Jan 02, 2017 Hannah Greendale rated it really liked it

Shelves: historical-fiction, middle-grade

Emmaline May has a secret: there are winged horses living in the mirrors of Briar Hill. Once the home of a princess, Briar Hill is now a hospital for sick children whose parents are fighting in the war. When Emmaline sneaks into Briar Hill's forbidden garden, she discovers a winged horse who cannot return home to the mirror-world until her injured wing is repaired. Only Emmaline can see the horse, so she alone must save it, but a creature of darkness prowling the skies and her own failing health ...more

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Dec 14, 2016 Melissa ♥ Dog/Wolf Lover ♥ Martin rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: childrens, own

This book is too sad!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

He hands me a blue ticket. He uses the tickets so the Sisters will know what treatment we need each week. There are three colors: Blue for patients who are well enough to go outside for exercise and fresh air. Yellow for those who must limit their activity to indoors. Red for the ones-the one, because it is only Anna-too ill to leave their beds

That's all I have, it's too sad! The author's note is sad too. But it is what happens or happe ...more

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Sep 27, 2016 Tadiana ✩Night Owl☽ rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, arc, wwii, animalia, middle-grade

Now available! 4.5 stars. Final review, first posted on Fantasy Literature:

Emmaline knows a secret: Briar Hill, a Shropshire mansion turned into a children’s hospital during World War II, has beautiful winged horses that live in the mirrors of its elegant rooms. They move in and out of the mirror-rooms, walking through doorways, nosing half-finished cups of tea. But only Emmaline can see them, and she keeps the secret to herself. She knows the boys like Benny and Jack will tease her mercilessly Now available! 4.5 stars. Final review, first posted on Fantasy Literature:

Emmaline knows a secret: Briar Hill, a Shropshire mansion turned into a children’s hospital during World War II, has beautiful winged horses that live in the mirrors of its elegant rooms. They move in and out of the mirror-rooms, walking through doorways, nosing half-finished cups of tea. But only Emmaline can see them, and she keeps the secret to herself. She knows the boys like Benny and Jack will tease her mercilessly if they knew. She doesn’t even tell her best friend Anna, who’s the most ill person at the hospital, for fear that she’ll distress Anna.

One day Benny steals a treasured piece of chocolate from Emmaline and eats it. Upset, Emmaline runs outside and (breaking the hospital rules) climbs over the ivy of a walled garden on the grounds. Inside the abandoned garden, a beautiful white horse with a soft gray muzzle, a star-like blaze of dark hair between her eyes, and snow-white wings approaches her. Emmaline notices that the horse’s wing is hurt and figures that the horse must have somehow come into our world from the mirror world to find a place of healing.

Soon Emmaline begins finding written messages in the garden, signed by the Horse Lord, telling her that this winged horse, Foxfire, needs her help to avoid being captured by the sinister Black Horse that flies about the hospital by night, hunting for Foxfire in the colorless moonlight. Before the moon is full again in two weeks, the Horse Lord’s message tells Emmaline, she must surround Foxfire with large, colorful objects, one for each color of the rainbow, to create a spectral shield that will protect Foxfire from the Black Horse, whose eyes are burned by color. But there are very few bright colors in Emmaline’s drab world.

Everything at Briar Hill is white snow and gray stone. It is the dull browns and greens of soldiers’ uniforms, and the black of nuns’ habits. No wonder we have drawn the Black Horse straight to us. Our world is colorless midwinter.

This will be a huge challenge for Emmaline. But the Horse Lord’s messages, always signed “Ride true,” encourage her to do her best.

The Secret Horses of Briar Hill is a gem of a middle grade book, wondrous and bittersweet. Surrounded by sickness, death and fear, and burdened by traumatic memories, Emmaline treasures her glimpses of the mirrored horses and her growing bond with Foxfire. The search for brightly colored objects at the Horse Lord’s behest gives her a new purpose, but it also leads her into trouble and some questionable decisions, and even into danger.

Megan Shepherd gracefully captures the atmosphere of this one small corner of the World War II conflict, children with tuberculosis who were evacuated to hospitals and wards in the British country. Emmaline calls tuberculosis the “stillwaters,” partly because she feels that her lungs are as “still and thick as swamp water,” running deep within Emmaline’s body. But it’s also a reminder that of the proverb that still waters run deep, and that children and teens (not to mention older people) may be struggling with deep, hidden troubles ― whether physical sickness or other types of distress ― that may not be visible to others.

As the plot unfolds, we gradually learn more about Emmaline’s past and how that affects her now, which sheds new possible interpretations on Emmaline’s experiences. One of the intriguing aspects of The Secret Horses of Briar Hill is that it’s unusually ambiguous for a middle grade book. There are different possible interpretations of the events related by Emmaline: this might be a truly magical story, or it might be that the winged horses exist only in Emmaline’s imagination. Readers will need to decide for themselves what they believe actually happened. In some books this ambiguity would frustrate me, but here I found it lovely and emotionally touching.

The Secret Horses of Briar Hill deals with deeply serious issues but is delightfully imaginative at the same time. It’s a timeless story, combining fantasy and magic with sometimes dark realities. This book deals with some difficult subject matter but does so in a way that isn’t too ponderous or distressing for young readers, and inspires us to keep hope, to follow our dreams. To ride true.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher, Delacorte Press, in exchange for a review. Thank you! ...more

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Aug 07, 2016 Maya rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: arc-gift, children-s-fiction, fantasy, favorites, strong-h, special-mind, sweet-reads

This book...this book! It does something to you. All the emotions, from joy and true happiness to almost unbearable pain, all of it is so worth it! At war times, sometimes your own fantasy and magical world can be your saviour. And that's exactly what this book is all about. It's a mix of true facts and wonderful fantasy, created by Emmaline, one of the sick children at Briar Hill hospital. Since the war is upon them and dark days lay ahead, they try to find laughter and joy wherever they can. B ...more

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Oct 31, 2017 Rebecca McNutt rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fantasy, middle-grade, history, horse, fiction

This book is so incredible, everything from its innocent and nostalgic premise to its vibrant themes of escapism and magic. It's definitely one I'd recommend to anyone who loves great stories. :)

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Sep 29, 2016 Figgy rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: arc-or-netgalley, one-hundred-percent-rock-reviews, publisher-walker, review-copy, reviewed, favourites-2016, favourites

Actual rating 4.5

The images within this book are evocative, gorgeous, and just downright perfect, with occasional double spread images that help to fill out the picture. But the words in themselves will reach right into your heart and pull on those strings. In truth, my feelings about this book actually grew overnight, between staying up late to finish the last few chapters and sitting down to write this review the following evening.

Upon closing this book, I felt there were too many things left ...more

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Nov 17, 2016 Neil (or bleed) rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Recommended to Neil (or bleed) by: Lola

Shelves: 2016-reads, middle-grade, 2016-favorites, i-loved-it-aka-all-time-faves

Whether I believe the horses in this book are truly magical or just a figment of imagination from the main character's mind, the impact is still the same. I loved this book! And I loved reading it!

The Secret Horses of Briar Hill is an evocative, profound middle grade novel that reminds us of hope despite the tragedies this world brings.

It's a enchanting tale of friendship, of love, courage and determination to push through with life. It's a great novel that stays with you for a long time and wi ...more

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Jan 19, 2016 Megan Shepherd rated it it was amazing · (Review from the author) · review of another edition

I've never rated one of my own books before, but this one has a special place in my heart. I'm giving it five stars for that beautiful cover, for the blood, sweat, and tears between the pages, and for all the many people who helped and inspired me along the way. Thank you all, and happy reading.

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Nov 02, 2016 Jessica rated it it was amazing

Shelves: middle-grade, fantasy, historical-fiction

Beautiful book!

Set during WWII, a young girl at a hospital for tubercular children in Britain makes a startling discovery: there are winged horses you can only see in the mirrors of the hospital. But are they real, or a product of a fevered brain? And is it the horses who need her help, or does she need theirs?

Very much reminded me of books like The Secret Garden, which Shepherd cites as an inspiration and childhood favorite in her Author's Note.

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Oct 28, 2016 Ivonne Rovira rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Recommends it for: anyone with a heart

Recommended to Ivonne by: NetGalley

Shelves: children-literature

Some children’s books are simply wasted on children: The Little Prince, Outside Over There, The Polar Express, The Book Thief, The Invention of Hugo Cabret, the Harry Potter series, Flotsam, The Magic Thief and its sequels.

Add to that select list Megan Shepherd’s The Secret Horses of Briar Hill.

Like so many English children during World War II, Emmeline May has been sent to Shropshire; however, unlike those other children, Emmeline and the other children at Briar Hill hospital has not been sent ...more

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Sep 03, 2016 Book Riot Community added it · review of another edition

Trapped in a hospital, surrounded by children inflicted with stillwaters, Emmaline keeps a secret: she can see winged horses in the mirrors. When one of those winged horses arrives injured in her world, it’s up to Emmaline to protect it – but how can you protect something so magical when you’re barely able to stand? The Secret Horses of Briar Hill pushes the boundaries of magical realism, leaving readers entirely uncertain as to whether or not the magic is in Emmaline’s heart or in her hospital ...more

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Nov 15, 2016 Roshani Chokshi added it · review of another edition

Gorgeous middle grade that reminded me of The Secret Garden and The Fall (an amazing, slightly trippy film directed by Tarsem Singh that I also recommend). The voice and pacing was perfect. The story was heartbreaking, and Emmaline May is a character I think many younger readers will adore.

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Mar 17, 2018 Melanie (TBR and Beyond) rated it it was amazing

Shelves: books-i-own, covergoals, cry-worthy, friendship-goals, illustrations, middle-grade, no-romance, physical-disability, read-in-2018, underrated-gem

This book was so beautiful, I just can't take it! This book truly is magical and I believed every word.

RTC

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Jun 06, 2017 jv poore rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: own-it, fantasy, historical-fiction, legends-myths-fables, middle-grade, student_appropriate

Simply stellar.

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Aug 03, 2017 Espe rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Reseña completa: http://letraslibrosymas.blogspot.com....

⦁ La ambientación: se desarrolla en la segunda guerra mundial, un enclave que ha dado historias desgarradoras y muy buenas, pero aquí Megan Shepherd solo lo ha utilizado como marco de acción, porque la verdadera importancia está en la protagonista y su lucha interior (por la enfermedad que padecen) y la guerra es una manera de ver las consecuencias para los más pequeños. Una estrategia que funciona a las mil maravillas para regalarnos una ...more

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May 04, 2018 True Kessler rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

A serious reading slump kept me from finishing this book sooner, but wow guys. This book is amazing. All I can say is if you have middle grade aged children, please read this book with them. (Or just read it for yourself - it’s not to be missed no matter your age) It’s truly a modern children’s classic. There are no ideas that children are not equipped to handle hard and complicated topics/emotions in this book. RTC.

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Dec 20, 2017 Katherine rated it really liked it

Shelves: coverly-love, historical-fiction, it-haz-pictures, jolly-old-england, middle-grade, supernatural, to-own, world-war-ii

”I have a secret.

But I’ll tell you.

There are winged horses that live in the mirrors of Briar Hill hospital.”

Synopsis: A little girl stuck in a hospital dares to make us cry with her visions of horses haunting the halls and mirrors of the rooms and corridors she dwells in.

Biblio-Babble
It’s a Hard Knock Life: Emmaline has tuberculosis, known to her as the still-waters. She lives in a converted mansion that was transformed into a hospital along with other children who have her condition. I th ...more

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Apr 28, 2018 MA®IBEL rated it liked it · review of another edition

3,5*

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Aug 08, 2017 Kitkat rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

The book is really makes me feel happy and inspired. This book is a rollercoaster of emotions that make me love it. The main character is supposed to be helpless but she overcomes so much. Even though she's really young she lost so much but still hopes and believes in the beauty of the world. Her struggles make this book real and relatable that made me enjoy it. I predicted a little bit of the plot but I was still shocked sometimes. When she endures the grief of her friend really made me love he ...more

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Apr 10, 2016 Lindsay Cummings rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Megan Shepherd has such a great writing voice...I instantly felt that it was her writing, when I picked this up. a lovely story, perfect for kids but lots of deeper meanings for adults as well. I loved it!!

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Jan 21, 2016 Carina Olsen rated it liked it

I can't begin to tell you how happy it makes me to have been able to read and review this book so early, when it isn't even out until October. It means the very most to me. Thank you so, so much to Anna for sending me this print ARC for review. <3 Simply the most gorgeous. This cover is truly something special. I adore it.

I'm unsure about how to review this stunning book, though. Because I didn't love it. But I liked it so so much. The writing is gorgeous. The characters are so interesting to I can't begin to tell you how happy it makes me to have been able to read and review this book so early, when it isn't even out until October. It means the very most to me. Thank you so, so much to Anna for sending me this print ARC for review. <3 Simply the most gorgeous. This cover is truly something special. I adore it.

I'm unsure about how to review this stunning book, though. Because I didn't love it. But I liked it so so much. The writing is gorgeous. The characters are so interesting to read about. The plot was a bit boring, but the background was simply amazing. The war. The children being sick. It was so good to read about.

I'm giving this book a three star. But it is a very positive three star rating. Because I really did like it a lot. And it is so gorgeous looking. I cannot wait to buy a hardcover of it when it comes out in October. There is a few pieces of stunning artwork inside this book, but there will be a few more in the final copy. And I can't wait to see them all, finished. They will be stunning, I'm sure of it. While I didn't love this one, I do think so many others will love it a lot. Especially children. Though it was a bit heartbreaking too, and it almost made me cry. Which is always a plus. Some things were a bit silly, but I still found this book to be pretty beautiful. I don't really like horses, so I didn't feel that much for the horses in this story. But I loved how much Emmaline cared.

This book is told from the point of view of Emmaline. I'm not sure how old she is, which bothered me a little bit. I wanted to know her age. But I didn't mind too much. She was young. She was adorable. I liked reading about her a lot. I hated that she was sick. My heart broke for her. I loved her relationship with another girl in this hospital for children, Anna. She was older, and she was so sick. It broke my heart. I loved reading about it, though. Felt like it was written well. I wish Anna had been loved by someone.

The story takes place in a hospital for children, run by a few nuns. Which I liked, as they seemed like kind women. But this book also takes place during the war. And it is so sad at times. The children don't have much at all. Which is just so depressing. But also interesting to read about. I love reading books about the war. Though this doesn't focus much on it at all. More about the children. All of whom are sick, and many might end up dead. It was pretty sad. Yet interesting to read about. I liked reading about it.

One thing that bothered me a lot was how Emmaline was with the other children, besides Anna. They didn't like her. They called her a monster. And my god. It broke my heart. Because she didn't do anything about it. Nothing at all. Not even when a mean boy ruined her pencils. She told no one. I just. I don't get why. I would have done something about it, because oh, it was so sad and mean of him. Ugh. But this boy. He was mean so often. Yet near the end I think I ended up liking him. Wanted to read more of him.

I should probably mention that this book is about horses. Winged horses. That only Emmaline can see, through the mirrors. Which was pretty sweet. But then she finds a horse in her own world, and she is hurt. Emmaline has to help her. And while I found it to be interesting, I didn't love this part of the book. It didn't mean much to me, because I wasn't able to care. Why did she want to help the horse? I didn't see a connection between them. But it was still pretty cute. Maybe. The way she helped was a bit weird.

My favorite part of the book was near the end, when Emmaline was pretty sick. We got to know about her family, the true story. And oh my gosh. It was heartbreaking. And it was the part that I enjoyed reading about the most. It was so real and honest and brutal. Wish there had been a bit more focus on it, but I'm happy with that little bit. I think this book could have a sequel. As I feel like a lot more could happen. And yeah. I would love to read another book from this story. It would be wonderful. I want it.

There is a bunch of characters in this book. I liked most of them. Especially Thomas with his one arm. He seemed so kind. Yet the children feared him and that bothered me. I felt like he was lonely a lot. I would have loved to learn his story. And oh, I shipped him and Anna. Yes, I know, there wasn't anything about them anywhere. But I would have loved it. The children were okay to read about, but I think I only truly liked Emmaline and Anna. The others were a bit mean towards Emmaline, and I couldn't stand it.

The Secret Horses of Briar Hill was such a stunning middle grade book. The writing is gorgeous and the time period was amazing to read about. The sick children broke my heart. I'm so glad I got to read and review this book early. I'm just a bit sad that I didn't love it, but I didn't not like it either. It was good. And I know that others will end up loving it. Just. Huge, huge thank you to Anna at Random House Children's Books. <3 It means the most to me that you could ship this print ARC to me. I'll treasure it.

---

This review was first posted on my blog, Carina's Books, here: http://carinabooks.blogspot.no/2016/0... ...more

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Feb 18, 2017 Tracey rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I didn't make a single note on this book, didn't save a single highlight. That's unusual for me; I usually take full advantage of my Kindle's abilities to augment my memory.

Then again, I don't really need notes in order to remember this book. I'll remember it for a long time. It's a sweet, sad book set in the middle of WWII about a girl sent to a mansion deep in the English countryside that has been converted to a hospital. They're quarantined there, with an alarming disease – which is why Emma I didn't make a single note on this book, didn't save a single highlight. That's unusual for me; I usually take full advantage of my Kindle's abilities to augment my memory.

Then again, I don't really need notes in order to remember this book. I'll remember it for a long time. It's a sweet, sad book set in the middle of WWII about a girl sent to a mansion deep in the English countryside that has been converted to a hospital. They're quarantined there, with an alarming disease – which is why Emmaline's family can't come to visit her. (Right?) She passes as much time as possible with her best friend, an older girl named Anna, drawing and talking about everything – including the beautiful winged horses they both can apparently see behind the many mirrors in the mansion.

Emmaline's life is soon taken over by interlocking crises. One of the horses from that mirror world has crossed over to ours fleeing from the terrible Black Horse, and, badly injured, and only Emmaline can help her. Meanwhile, Anna's health falters, and the only person Emmaline can turn to for help with the quest involved in rescuing the injured horse is the one she fears most, the local boogeyman. All the while, Emmaline must also fight the doctor and the nurses who for some reason keep trying to curtail her nighttime trips into the hospital's grounds in the snow…

That, of course, is the surface story. Beneath it is so much more. The Black Horse is genuinely frightening – I can only imagine the scars it would have left on my horse-obsessed child self – but despite that I wish I had been able to read it then, because just as real as the fearsome enemy is the magical world through the mirrors. I can guarantee I would have been looking at anything but my own reflection for months, hoping for a glimpse of a feathered wing or a whisking tail. (Which would be a far more enjoyable side effect than the outright covering of mirrors after that Doctor Who episode … )

But then again – no. I don't think I would really want to inflict the pain and grief in this book on my younger self. The war, the epidemic – are the horses a metaphor? Or could they, might they be real, a grace note of hope in a dark world?

It's a heartbreaking book, gorgeously illustrated with deceptively simple black and white drawings. No, I think it's just as well I couldn't read this when I was smaller. It would have been crushing.

The usual disclaimer: I received this book via Netgalley for review.
...more

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Oct 05, 2016 La La - Everyone's Crazy Aunt rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: middle-grade-favorites, on-my-kindle, review-arcs-netgalley, middle-grade

This was a genuinely nice story. The length was perfect for a Middle Grade, too. So many of the MGs I have read lately have been too long. The story dealt with war, sickness and death, but still managed quite a bit of Magical Realism whimsy. The historical elements seem to have been well researched.

Another aspect I appreciated with this book is there was no adult thinking. Too many MGs as of late either have the MC thinking and acting like an adult, or are heavy on the adult secondary character ...more

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Apr 10, 2017 Lucas Fogaça rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: beautiful-covers, childrens

Gostei do clima da história e das lições de coragem, imaginação, amizade, perseverança e a importância de ver a beleza do mundo mesmo em tempos difíceis, mas algo me impediu de realmente amar esse livro. Desconfio que seja a teimosia de Emmaline - ok que ela precisa salvar a égua, mas ARGH PARA DE FUGIR DO HOSPITAL.

(Me dá uma agonia ver essas histórias com crianças que saem em aventuras tipo esta aqui e Em Algum Lugar nas Estrelas, porque elas estão sempre em perigo e os adultos parecem que não ...more

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Apr 23, 2017 Jessica rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Oh, this book. I borrowed this on a whim from the library, and I'm so very glad that I did. Megan Shepard has woven a beautiful tale in The Secret Horses of Briar Hill. One that manages to mix fantasy and reality in a way that is both heartbreaking and sweet. I fell in love with Emmaline from page one, and I honestly wish that her story had gone on a little longer.

The writing in this book felt so familiar. Like an old friend, that I hadn't picked up in a while. I'd most easily compare this to so ...more

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Mar 26, 2017 Kate rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, historical-fic, favorites

"I have a secret. I won't tell Benny and the other boys. They are like dogs in the night, snarling at anything that moves. I won't tell Anna either, even though she is nice to me and shares her colored pencils.
But I'll tell you.
This is my secret: there are winged horses that live in the mirrors of Briar Hill Hospital."

Review to come.

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May 04, 2017 Misty rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I really enjoyed this book, but it was so so sad!!! I can honestly say that I feel really ignorant for not knowing all that has happened in history. Children going to live away from others because they have TB so others don't catch it from them. Leaving their families and homes behind. According to the Author's note this truly did happen back then. I've been very interested in World War II since I was young and never even knew about this happening.

I loved the winged horse plot of the story and ...more

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Booktastic Bookah...: August 2017-The Secret Horses of Briar Hill by Megan Shepherd	6	6	Sep 23, 2017 05:35AM

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About Megan Shepherd

Megan Shepherd

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New York Times bestselling author Megan Shepherd grew up in her family’s independent bookstore in the Blue Ridge Mountains. She is the author of several young adult and middle grade novels. She now lives and writes on a 125-year-old farm outside Asheville, North Carolina, with her husband, two cats, and an especially scruffy dog.