This is my stop during the book blitz for Selah's Stolen Dream by Susan Count. This book blitz is organized by Lola's Blog Tours. The book blitz runs from 18 till 31 March. See the tour schedule here.
Selah's Stolen Dream (Dream Horse Adventures #4)By Susan Count
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Age category: Middle Grade
Release Date: 1 March, 2020
Blurb:
One girl’s victory is another’s tragic defeat.
Thirteen-year-old Selah’s perfect life unravels when her beloved horse is stolen. Then ten-year-old Emma buys the dream of a lifetime at a horse auction. When she learns the horse was stolen, even removing her hearing aid won’t drown out the voice telling her to make it right.
But two girls can’t divide the horse they both adore. So will life surprise them with an answered prayer?
You can find Selah's Stolen Dream on Goodreads
You can buy Selah's Stolen Dream here:
- Amazon
- Amazon Paperback
Excerpt:
Ten-year-old Emma sat astride the couch arm and cantered in sync with a girl, even younger than her, in a video. The pink ribbons in the girl’s brown braids flapped behind her. The gray pony’s legs fired like an engine in overdrive. At the approach of each jump, the girl thumped her boots on the pony’s side and swatted it with a crop.
Her hands clinging to pretend reins guiding her imaginary mount expertly through the Speed Jumping event. She leaned into the turns and squared her pony to the jump. Gauging the canter strides to take off, she squeezed with her knees and balanced over her mount’s withers. With a long moment of suspension, her imagination soared over the jump. Clear! She calculated the angle to the next jump. As the video pair nailed the last combination, she patted the couch jubilantly, praising her pony.
Mom tapped her shoulder. “Come on. We’ll be late for your lesson.” She switched off the TV.
Her parents always asked her to use her words, but she thought her voice sounded strange. Emma signed whenever she could get away with it. “I get so into watching her ride that I forget everything else.” Her own riding lessons were too quiet, too slow, and too safe. They never had the excitement and energy of the girl in the video. But then the girl with the flying braids wasn’t deaf.
Completely deaf in one ear, she couldn’t remember a time when she didn’t need a hearing aid in the other ear. Her parents told her she didn’t lose her hearing until the year she started kindergarten. She had it, and she lost it. And the specialists couldn’t tell them why.
She slipped on her riding boots, grabbed her safety vest and helmet, and flew.
Mom held out her jacket. “Bundle up. I don’t want you catching cold.” “Yesterday, it was 72.” As she stepped outside, Emma shivered. “Today, it’s 49. That’s Texas. We never know what to wear.” As the February winds swirled the trees, a feed store delivery
truck sputtered and rumbled outside the arena making it impossible for her to hear. While the hearing aid worked okay in small rooms, she found it useless outside. Even a slight breeze put so much static in her ear she had to turn it off. Her parents were saving to get her a higher quality one. Even though it was a pain, she wished they’d help her save for a horse of her own instead. But one dime at a time, she’d do it. She wasn’t complaining. Not really. Because she had Pony-Boy.
She hung around the pony farm down the road until Mrs. Holmes recognized her as a horse lover and knew Emma wasn’t going away. Mrs. Holmes graciously offered to give her a riding lesson on the old pony her college-age daughter had outgrown.
A big chalkboard hung in the center of the arena, attached to two jump standards. As she circled the arena at a trot to warm up Pony-Boy, she watched for Mrs. Holmes to write instructions on the board. Things like “relax your calf muscles” and “sink deeper into the stirrups”.
For safety, Mom positioned herself at one end of the arena. Though Brianna didn’t know how to sign or anything about horses, Mom insisted Emma’s sister take her position at the opposite end of the arena. They would signal if there were any urgent instructions. Like really, Mom? What could happen on Pony-Boy?
Any horseback riding scared Mom, but jumping even little crossrails terrified her. The only reason she got to ride was because Dad insisted she do things hearing kids did. To get Mom to agree, she had to wear an ugly, bulky safety vest as if she were competing in upper-level, Cross-Country eventing. The helmet was strapped on so tightly she could hardly swallow. She was mostly deaf, but not helpless.
Earlier books in the series:
Mary's Song is only 99 cents at the moment. This story is completely independent of the three Selah books. It is the story of Selah's grandmother.
About the Author:How many twists and turns can one person take before they figure out what they were born to do? Susan Count’s degree is in Applied Science–nothing in that prepared her to write novels for children. But one day, she began to write with no preconceived ideas. No one could have been more astounded than she was when it turned into a middle grade equine series. As a member of Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, American Christian Fiction Writers, and Texas Association of Authors, she takes the craft of writing seriously and considers revision to be her super-power.
She writes at an antique secretary desk that occupies a glass room with a forest view. Fittingly, it once belonged to the same wise grandmother who introduced Susan to the love of reading via Walter Farley’s horse books. That desk has secret compartments which hold memories, mysteries and story ideas.
Susan is a lifelong equestrian and is owned by a Rocky Mountain Horse. She is convinced that the only thing more delightful than riding the forest trails might be writing horse adventure stories. She invites you to saddle up and ride along.
You can find and contact Susan here:
- Website
- Goodreads
- Amazon
Giveaway
There is a tour wide giveaway for the book blitz of Selah’s Stolen Dream. One winner will win a $25 Amazon gift card!
For a chance to win, enter the rafflecopter below:
a Rafflecopter giveaway
