The Night Ride by J. Anderson Coats - ADVISABLE

 The Night Ride by J. Anderson Coats, 216 pages. Atheneum (Simon), 2021. $8 (paperback)

Content: G

BUYING ADVISORY: EL – ESSENTIAL; MS - ADVISABLE

AUDIENCE APPEAL: EL - HIGH; MS - AVERAGE

Sonnia is working hard at her family's pony ride business, taking turns with her sister. Sonnia saves all her money for the day she has enough money to buy beautiful Ricochet. She adores and loves the horse and spends every available moment with it. Life is hard for people in the village, often they do not have enough food to eat. By some good luck she is offered a job in the royal stables. She will live in the bunkhouse and get three meals a day and earn money. She works hard and spends every spare minute with Ricochet. The others working in the stables participate in The Night Ride - people in the village bet on the horses and the kids riding the winning horse gets the winning purse. A lot of money. At first Sonnia does not want to participate, She knows it is illegal, and she knows that the horses could get hurt riding through the forest in the dark. She worries somebody other than her will take beautiful Ricochet out for the night ride.

The setting for this story is a society during the Middle Ages. The characters are well written and believable. Sonnia has to make some very mature decisions, knowing that her life is on the line. I highly recommend this book, and I read it in one sitting! The characters are default white.

Ellen-Anita, Librarian