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Free Rein #1
New Beginnings
First Book from Hampton Roads poet Edith Blake. Covers poetry on life topics, matters of faith, simple pleasures, reflections on happy times and hopeful future, as well as a sample of poetry from her late husband Bill Blake.
64 pages, Paperback
First published January 17, 2014
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
August 8, 2018
This really is a tale of new beginnings as a small family drives halfway across Australia to set up home in a rural district. They will own a hundred acres and plan to offer horse livery to pay bills. Quite why they plan on this when the parents don't seem to be horsey people I am not sure. Wouldn't it be easier and cheaper to lease the land for cattle or hay making? But young Jacqui has been praying for a pony of her own.
Some nice gentle lessons about pony riding for absolute beginners are shown. We also see that girls who like ponies can all be friends due to common interest.
Why I don't give better marks is due mainly to the fact that there is no excitement or challenge to overcome. Settling in to the new home and school is about the sum of the story, accomplished with what comes across to me as lectures from adults. The schoolmaster pony Jacqui gets to ride at weekends gives a gentle ride, but it would be better to show us a lively pony playing up with someone experienced so that we understand why novices need a gentle pony. The other girls are carbon copies with no upsets or problems. Jacqui's brother sulks a bit about moving at the start, but that's over in a page. And a boy is referred to as 'the older male.' Weird. Why not boy/lad/brother/name?
Girls under ten will probably be the target readers and will indeed learn from the tale; but they'll want to move on to a pony adventure.
I downloaded an e-ARC when the author made it available. This is an unbiased review.
Some nice gentle lessons about pony riding for absolute beginners are shown. We also see that girls who like ponies can all be friends due to common interest.
Why I don't give better marks is due mainly to the fact that there is no excitement or challenge to overcome. Settling in to the new home and school is about the sum of the story, accomplished with what comes across to me as lectures from adults. The schoolmaster pony Jacqui gets to ride at weekends gives a gentle ride, but it would be better to show us a lively pony playing up with someone experienced so that we understand why novices need a gentle pony. The other girls are carbon copies with no upsets or problems. Jacqui's brother sulks a bit about moving at the start, but that's over in a page. And a boy is referred to as 'the older male.' Weird. Why not boy/lad/brother/name?
Girls under ten will probably be the target readers and will indeed learn from the tale; but they'll want to move on to a pony adventure.
I downloaded an e-ARC when the author made it available. This is an unbiased review.
August 25, 2014
[I was offered this book in exchange for a review].
New Beginnings by Christine Meunier is an ideal book for pre-teen girls that have a love of horses. I am neither pre-teen, nor a girl, nor a horse lover so this was not a genre I was particularly familiar or comfortable with.
The story is set in Southern Australia and focusses on the King family who move interstate to a new home on a leased 100 acre property in Victoria, with the main character being a ten year old girl called Jacqui. As the story develops they overcome a number of challenges such as settling into a new community, making friends at school and turning the estate suitable for agistment (people paying to keep their horses on someone else's land).
At first I found the going slow but as I read on, I found myself getting more involved, relating to the characters and to their situation much more easily. Christine delivers the story very well, it is easy to read and there is a very 'jolly' and natural flow to her style of writing reminding me of the Enid Blyton books that I had read as a child.
My only criticism is that the story lacks any danger and tension, that said it covers all the important aspects of family life and friendship extremely well. I am sure that had I been a pre-teen with a love of horses, I would have given this book 5 stars.
New Beginnings by Christine Meunier is an ideal book for pre-teen girls that have a love of horses. I am neither pre-teen, nor a girl, nor a horse lover so this was not a genre I was particularly familiar or comfortable with.
The story is set in Southern Australia and focusses on the King family who move interstate to a new home on a leased 100 acre property in Victoria, with the main character being a ten year old girl called Jacqui. As the story develops they overcome a number of challenges such as settling into a new community, making friends at school and turning the estate suitable for agistment (people paying to keep their horses on someone else's land).
At first I found the going slow but as I read on, I found myself getting more involved, relating to the characters and to their situation much more easily. Christine delivers the story very well, it is easy to read and there is a very 'jolly' and natural flow to her style of writing reminding me of the Enid Blyton books that I had read as a child.
My only criticism is that the story lacks any danger and tension, that said it covers all the important aspects of family life and friendship extremely well. I am sure that had I been a pre-teen with a love of horses, I would have given this book 5 stars.
June 9, 2015
New Beginnings was a wonderfully uplifting book, featuring Jacqui, her family and their move to a beautiful farm and their goal of turning the property into a horse boarding facility. Any middle grade reader (or MG book lover) will enjoy her story and relate to girls who are horse crazy and at all stages of horse ownership and riding. Looking forward to reading the next!
May 23, 2015
A horse themed Christian series for preteens.
May 11, 2020
Awesome!!!!! Horses are amazing
I would recommend this book to anyone who likes horses and anyone who just got started in a new life
I would recommend this book to anyone who likes horses and anyone who just got started in a new life
October 26, 2016
I love all of Christine's books - great stories, great messages.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews