Stage Coach

Saddle Club #37

by Bonnie Bryant

Lisa Atwood has joined a community theatre and landed the lead in the production of "Annie", but when rehearsals become more frequent and demanding, she is too busy to prepare Prancer, a Pine Hollow thoroughbred, for a forthcoming rally. How can she choose between horses and the theatre?

Genres: Horses, Childrens, Young Adult, Fiction, Animals, Middle Grade

136 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

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

[Stephanie]

I think that it's out of character for super-organized Lisa to get herself INTO this particular mess in the first place. How could she audition and get a part in a play and not know when the performance is? Why did she write a super-deatailed study schedule before she had her rehearsal dates? And the book contradicts itself. She looks at her schedule and sees two rehearsals on the day of the horse show, so she'll only just barely be able to perform. But on the actual day, there's suddenly no conflict with her arriving with the rest of the group, staying with the group until all the horses are BACK at Pine Hollow and cared for, and still go to her dress rehearsal.

[Stefanie Robinson]

This book is about Lisa, mostly, so that is already a negative strike for me. I really dislike this girl. She is taking part in a play and putting all her time into that. While it is good to have other outlets and interests, she begins to neglect her duties at Pine Hollow. It wasn't the worst book in the series, but not ranking as one of my favorites.

[Sue Ann Dashnaw]

love it
love the books

[Sally]

Lisa is too busy rehearsing her part in Annie to spend time at the stables! Oh noes, priorities! I actually really liked this one though for all I mock. I liked anything stage-y!

[Hazel]

A good series for horse crazy young teens. I loved it when I was younger.

[Alisha Brook]

Bonnie Bryant is a brilliant writer of horse stories - some of my favourite childhood books.

STAGE COACH is no exception. A brilliant book apart of a brilliant series by a brilliant writer.