The Showdown

Burkhart, Jessica. The Showdown (Saddlehill Academy #2)

Published July 25, 2023 by Aladdin

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Abby St. Clair is back at Saddlehill Academy, but is still fighting with her step sister Emery over the incidents involving Selly and Nina. Abby steadfastly refuses to even discuss the incidents with the slightly younger Emery, and won't even talk to her. This causes problems with her team, and Thea and Vivi wish that Abby would at least discuss what happened. Abby is also still furious at her father, especially when he misses another of her Saturday competitions so he can work. Now that he is remarried, Abby is super protective of their time together. The team is doing okay, and Abby has hopes of getting to national competition. There are some students who have sponsorship deals for clothing or beauty products because they are doing so well. Abby is a little distracted by a cute rider from another school, Mila. The two get along, and Abby even invites Mila to a school dance. Her friends are all very supportive of the fact that she likes girls but may also like boys, and her father is supportive as well. No one expects her to have her identity completely figured out. After a screaming dispute in the stables during a competition, their coach Rebecca is very angry with Abby, Selly, and Nina, as well as Thea, who was trying to calm the group down. Will Abby be banned from competition? Will she ever make up with Abby? What does the future hold for her relationship with Mila? The book ends on a cliffhanger, so these questions may be answered in the next book, for which I have not seen a title. 

Strengths: As in the first book, there are some fun things about Saddlehill Academy. The girls frequently go out to fancy dinners, there's a dance, and the whole idea of a boarding school appeals to many readers. There are plenty of equestrian details, and many students have to deal with blended families. Abby does finally come clean to Rebecca about the incident with Selly's race time, and Selly forgives her in front of Rebecca, but this is just an act. There's a little bit of progress made on this whole situation, but no conclusion yet. Rebecca is a steadying force who motivates the girls towards better behavior. 
Weaknesses: The constant drama was wearing. I would have liked to see Abby get come conseling to deal with her anger, and the fact that Selly and Nina were never punished for the blackmailing was a bit concerning. 
What I really think: Reading about Abby's attitude and actions got a bit wearing; by the end of the book, she still hasn't really made peace with Emery and is very nasty to the younger girl. My readers who enjoy horse books are not given to as much drama; they would rather have more details about the horses. 

Parry, Roseanne. A Horse Named Sky
August 29, 2023 by Greenwillow Books
Copy provided by Young Adult Books Central

A colt is born in Nevada in the mid 19th century, and named Sky by his family. He is raised next to Storm, a foal, and the two have a good life until humans start encroaching on their home waters. The group's stallion, Thunder, manages to keep everyone safe, but when Sky gets to be old enough, he has to either fight Thunder for dominance, or leave. He chooses to leave. Water has been hard to find, and Storm follows him. They are both eventually caught by humans, but Storm manages to escape. Sky is told by the other horses that he will at least have water and food, but not being able to run free makes Sky unhappy. He's eventually branded and trained by a young human who is not well treated by the adults. Eventually, Sky runs away, and finds Storm in another human camp. They manage to break out, and run to the Steens Mountain area in Oregon where they can live freely and in peace. 

There is a wealth of information at the end of the book about many aspects of history, wild horses, and consrvation. There's a map of the area at this period in history, and additional information about the Pony Express, native flora and fauna, silver mining, and Native Americans. The bibliography points interested readers to other resources. 

The best part about this book for me was the fantastic illustrations by Kirbi Fagan, done in a style reminiscent of the Wesley Dennis illustrations in Marguerite Henry's midcentury horse books like Misty of Chicoteague. These are not just a few pictures on the pages, but whole pages, sometimes black with white illustrations, that blend seamlessly with the story and provide an evocative background. The details of the trees, the variety of the small animals, and the feeling of motion in the drawings of the horses are all so well done, and add so much to the story. 

This is written from Sky's point of view, so there are a lot of references to human items and behaviors in odd terms, like "grabbers" for hands and "clickers" for guns. For some reason, the mules seem to have an accent. This makes the books perfect for readers who liked Erin Hunter's Warriors books or series like Lasky's Horses of the Sky. 

Fans of Nir's Once Upon a Horse series, Farley's Phantom Stallion books, Skylar's Shadow of a Doubt, and Elliot's Bea and the New Deal Horse will love learning about the plight of wild horses in the US west, and take the environmental message to heart.