How a dirty, thin, and abused pony
changes a boy's life plans

Kate and Alex Hardy are a brother and sister that live close to Sandy Lane Stables. They both work there part time and they both love to be around horses. Alex has become very interested in playing soccer for his high school. He is pretty good at it and he has been invited to go on a soccer tour to South Africa with his team. The trouble is he doesn't have money for the trip. He can work a summer job, but he still can't quite make enough to cover the trip.

Alex knows he needs $1850 for the tour. His parents had told him that they would let him use $1500 from a savings bond that he had won sometime before. It was supposed to be saved for college, but they knew how badly he wanted to go on the soccer tour. But, he still needed $350. Different ideas he had for making the extra money just didn't seem to be workable. Then he had a brainstorm. He could use his $1500 to buy a pony, train it, and sell it for a profit. Of course, he didn't have his parent's permission to buy a pony with his money. They would come around when he made a profit, though. Andy also figured Nick, the owner of Sandy Lane Stables, would be glad to have an extra pony for people to ride and would feed and stable the pony until it could be sold.

So Alex went to an auction. He ended up accidentally bidding on a pony he had not seen. The poor animal was underweight and had clearly been mistreated. When Nick saw the pony, he was unwilling to stable the animal. Now what? Alex finally talks Nick into keeping the pony in a vacant stall, but Alex has to agree to pay for its food and to work for Sandy Lane Stables for the summer. Of course, he has to take care of Puzzle, the name he gave to the pony. Nobody thought Puzzle could be made healthy again, let alone sold later for a profit.

As the summer goes on, Alex, with Kate's help, is able to turn Puzzle into a healthy pony. In fact, Puzzle responds so well to training that she starts winning contests as a jumper. Unfortunately, there are some other complications. First of all, Alex's parents still don't know Alex bought a horse with his college money. Secondly, Alex has had to spend so much time with Puzzle and the Stables that the coach has kicked him off the soccer team.

You need to read "The Perfect Pony" by Michelle Bates to find out how it all turns out in the end. If you like these kinds of horse stories, there are many more of them in the Sandy Lane Stables series of books.

A boy passes the "wizard test" and
reluctantly begins training as a wizard

Dayven was tired of the whispering behind his back by those who said he was "wizard born." True, his grandmother had been a wizard, but that didn't mean he was one. Wizards were seen as secretive and, possibly, disloyal. However, when he reached fourteen-years of age, he knew he would have to take the Wizard Test. He just hoped he would fail. He was training to be a solder or Guardian - the ones who protected the town. His people were the Tharn. The Tharn had to be on guard against the Censar, the people who lived in the lands around the walled town. Originally, the Censar had built the town, but the Tharn had conquered them some years' before and had taken over their lands.

Right after his birthday, Dayven was ordered to go to the area where the wizards lived so he could take the wizard test. Although he wasn't quite sure how or why he had done it, he was told he had passed the test. Dayven ran away from the wizard castle to rejoin the group training to be Guardians. Lord Enar, the leader of the Guardians, convinced Dayven that he should return and go into training with the wizards so that he could keep an eye on them for Lord Enar.

Dayven had some difficulty convincing the head sorcerer that, after running away, he was now returning and really wanted to train as a wizard. But, because those with wizard skills were rare, they accepted him back. His tutor was to be Riddick, a wandering wizard, who was known for his shiftlessness and heavy drinking. So Dayven found himself traveling into dangerous Censar territory as apprentice to an undisciplined and often drunken sorcerer.

While traveling with Riddick, Dayven starts to find and develop his underlying wizard skills. He starts to respect his traveling companion. When they reach a Censar city, though, Reddick places Dayven in a program that is training young Censar to be warriors. His mentor tells him to learn the Censar's fighting methods so he can go back and tell the Tharn what their enemy's fighting strategies are. So, instead of spying on Riddick as Lord Enar wanted him to, Dayven finds himself spying on the Censar while Riddick is off doing who knows what.

Dayven likes the warrior training and makes a good friend among the Censar trainees. He finds that the Censar seem to be more sensible and kinder people than their conquerors, the Tharn. The Censar had learned to protect the land, while their conquerors were destroying the environment. When Riddick returns and reports that he is really a spy for the Censar and not for the Tharn, Dayven is totally upset and confused. Where do his loyalties lie? What should he do when he returns to Lord Enar? Should he report Riddick's treachery? You need to read "The Wizard Test" by Hilari Bell to find out the answers.

Kids deal with their father in Vietnam
and their mother's depression

Bobby Lynn found herself in sixth grade in a new school (for her) in Tacoma, Washington. She, her mom, and her older brother, Mason, had just moved from a military base in Texas. Their mother wanted to be near the port where their dad was being shipped out to Vietnam. The war was still going on. The family was surprised that their dad was being sent to war. After all, he was a mechanic, not a soldier trained to fight.

Bobby Lynn knew that her mother was moody and depressed when her husband was away for long periods of time. This time he was to be in Vietnam for a year. It wasn't long after her husband shipped out that the mother started showing signs that she was depressed. The real troubles for the little family began when the mother stopped going to her job. Soon money ran out and there was no longer money to buy groceries. Then the word came that their father was missing in action.

Bobby Lynn had found the girls in her new school unfriendly. They made fun of her clothes and her southern speech. There was one other girl in the class that the kids made fun of besides Bobby Lynn. Her name was Wendy Feeney. The kids called her "Teeny Weeny Wendy Feeney" because she was skinny and small for her age. Wendy mouthed back when kids tried to make fun of her and tried to be protective of Bobby Lynn. Although Bobby Lynn was slow to warm up, she and Wendy became friends. Soon Bobby Lynn was visiting the Feeney's and accepted into the family. But, because of her mother's depression and the increasing problems at home, she couldn't bring Wendy to her family's apartment. Bobby Lynn discovered that Wendy had a mentally and physically challenged sister that required much of Wendy's time and attention. Bobby Lynn saw how sensitive and strong her new friend could be.

When things began to get really out of hand in Bobby Lynn's life, she found out that a true friend like Wendy knew how to come to the rescue. You need to read the book "Dove Song" by Kristine L Franklin to find out how it all turns out in the end.