Bea, 13, and younger sister Vivian are secretly abandoned by their father on the farm of their late mother's friend. After Bea rescues a temperamental chestnut horse with colic, the girls are discovered by the farm owner, Mrs. Millicent Scott, whose brisk demeanor initially dissuades Bea from revealing their connection. That "beaten-up horse and beaten-down girl" prove quite a pair and potentially Mrs. Scott's best hope of saving her farm from foreclosure. Bea shows resilience as she confronts hardships and navigates life within her newfound family. Riding terminology and Virginia hunt-country gentility infuse the emotional text while Depression-era cultural facts, economics, and racial tensions color interactions among side characters. An extensive note details Elliott's (Louisa June and the Nazis in the Waves, 2022) admiration for notable female horseback riders as well as research that informed this work. Distrustful but determined Bea has a lot riding on her, but she harnesses her stubbornness amidst sorrow in this blue-ribbon pick for fans of Kimberly Brubaker Bradley's The War That Saved My Life (2015).

Gr 3–7— This fits snugly within the canon of plucky girls overcoming massive trials. Written in the vein of A Little Princess or Anne of Green Gables , this title sets the titular Beatrice in the depths of America's Great Depression. Bea's father abandons her and her younger sister Vivian on the farm of a distant and rather prickly acquaintance, Mrs. Scott. Although she's hesitant about the two foundlings, Mrs. Scott soon finds a use for them on her floundering farm. Once Bea, who is white, reveals her innate horse training sense, there's hope and great risk on the horizon as the women try to save the farm through taming a traumatized horse. Bea's journey is gorgeously told through refined but accessible writing. The conflicts are heartbreaking without a heavy hand. The scenes of horse jumping are equally exhilarating and exhausting, enough to make any horse skeptic a full-on fan. With a dash of social issues through veterans, racism, and the Hoover/FDR presidential race, Elliott's novel is as informative as it is entertaining. VERDICT A gorgeous, almost bygone-era tale of overcoming adversity, full of wisdom for all. Upper elementary students, high schoolers, and beyond can learn resilience and wisdom from these characters.— Cat McCarrey