Ride On Series

Book two in the horse-kid series Kirkus calls “potent [and] heartrending,” from Kimberly Brubaker Bradley, award-winning and #1 New York Times-bestselling author of The War That Saved My Life and Fighting Words

Four months ago, before a horse was left to die in Harper’s yard, before she named him Phoenix and began to nurse him back to health, before she joined the riding team in her new town, before all that, Harper knew zero about horses.

Now? She knows a little more than zero. And she knows for sure that the best part of riding is jumping. Harper wants to be perfect at it by the time Phoenix is well enough to ride—maybe even in time for the team’s first competition. But to her surprise, there is no jumping at the first event. Even worse, it’s called Quiz Rally. Just the word “quiz” makes Harper queasy—she’s tanked every math quiz she’s had lately, despite how hard she studies. She must do well at Quiz Rally. But a mistake with Katara, her friend Dante’s horse, plunges Harper into uncertainty. As the group preps for the competition, Harper’s anxiety only grows, and so does tension with her teammates. How will she ever make it through math class, through Quiz Rally, through all the competitions to come? How will she ever be ready for Phoenix? The answers come in taking a leap—just not the one Harper expects. More adventure awaits in this second book. Ride on.

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • Growing up is a bumpy ride.

The first book in a fresh, uplifting series about a young girl learning to find joy again through the love of an unexpected horse—from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The War That Saved My Life and Fighting Words.

“Not just for horse lovers; it is for anyone navigating major life changes and grappling with learning to forgive.” —School Library Journal

Harper’s life has just exploded. Her parents are getting a divorce. And she suspects her best friend, Cat, may have known the reason for it long before she did. Now Harper and her mom are starting over in a cramped house, in a new town, where everything feels unfamiliar, including the riding barn next door. Harper’s never been around horses before. And no, she does not want to learn to ride—

Until a truck dumps a starved and neglected horse right in Harper’s yard.

Harper has no idea what to do with a live horse, let alone a nearly dead one. But one look at this horse’s huge eyes and skinny body, and something inside Harper unlocks. The horse is named Phoenix, she decides. And she will not give up on him. Neither, it turns out, will Phoenix give up on her. She doesn’t know it yet, but this is Harper’s first step—toward new friends, new challenges, new adventures. Toward riding.

From two-time Newbery Honor–winning author and bona fide horse lady Kimberly Brubaker Bradley comes a beautiful and authentic horse series, sure to transport any reader who’s ever felt lost and wished to be found.