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Saddle Club #13
Starlight Christmas
Stevie and Lisa can't wait for the holidays to begin. But the Christmas season just hasn't been the same for Carole, ever since her mother died. When the local veterinarian hires her as a temporary assistant, Carole's mood slowly brightens. With so much to do, Carole can't stay sad for long. By the night of Pine Hollow's Starlight Ride, she's in the Christmas spirit. She's even looking forward to leading the stable's traditional moonlit procession through the woods on Christmas Eve. But the real highlight of her Christmas vacation is still to come: Carole doesn't even suspect the wonderful surprise her father and her horse-crazy friends have in store for her!
544 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1990
11 people are currently reading
261 people want to read
About the author
Bonnie Bryant
384 books200 followersAmerican author of children's books. She is best known for creating the intermediate horse book series The Saddle Club, which was published from October 1988 until April 2001. The Saddle Club chronicled the adventures of thirteen-year-old Lisa Atwood and twelve-year-olds Stephanie "Stevie" Lake and Carole Hanson. The series was static in time; the girls never aged in 101 books, 7 special editions, and 3 Inside Stories.
Bonnie Bryant also wrote two spin-off series: Pony Tails, aimed at beginning readers, and Pine Hollow, aimed at teenage readers. The 16 Pony Tails books followed the lives of eight-year-olds May Grover, Corey Takamura, and Jasmine James. Pine Hollow featured Carole, Lisa, Stevie, and their new friends in a series set four years after The Saddle Club. Unlike The Saddle Club, Pine Hollow conformed to a realistic timeline. The 17 books took place over the span of less than a year. Later a television show called The Saddle Club, based on the books, was filmed in Australia.
Bonnie Bryant wrote at least 38 The Saddle Club books and 2 Pine Hollow books herself; after that they were taken over by a team of ghostwriters, a common practice in long-running children's book series. Ghostwriters for the Saddle Club and Pine Hollow books included Caitlin Macy (sometimes credited as Caitlin C. Macy), Catherine Hapka, Sallie Bissell, Kimberly Brubaker Bradley, Helen Geraghty, Tina deVaron, Cat Johnston, Minna Jung, and Sheila Prescott-Vessey.
Bonnie Bryant is also the author of many novelizations of movies, including Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Karate Kid, and Honey, I Blew Up the Kid, written under her married name, B.B. Hiller. She also collaborated in the ghostwriting of The Baby-sitters Club Super Special #14: BSC in the USA, published under the name of its creator, Ann M. Martin.
Bonnie Bryant was born and raised in New York City. She met her husband, Neil W. Hiller, in college, where they both worked on the campus newspaper. They had two sons, Emmons Hiller and Andrew Hiller. Neil Hiller died in 1989. Many of Bonnie's books are dedicated to him.
***from wikipedia.org
Bonnie Bryant also wrote two spin-off series: Pony Tails, aimed at beginning readers, and Pine Hollow, aimed at teenage readers. The 16 Pony Tails books followed the lives of eight-year-olds May Grover, Corey Takamura, and Jasmine James. Pine Hollow featured Carole, Lisa, Stevie, and their new friends in a series set four years after The Saddle Club. Unlike The Saddle Club, Pine Hollow conformed to a realistic timeline. The 17 books took place over the span of less than a year. Later a television show called The Saddle Club, based on the books, was filmed in Australia.
Bonnie Bryant wrote at least 38 The Saddle Club books and 2 Pine Hollow books herself; after that they were taken over by a team of ghostwriters, a common practice in long-running children's book series. Ghostwriters for the Saddle Club and Pine Hollow books included Caitlin Macy (sometimes credited as Caitlin C. Macy), Catherine Hapka, Sallie Bissell, Kimberly Brubaker Bradley, Helen Geraghty, Tina deVaron, Cat Johnston, Minna Jung, and Sheila Prescott-Vessey.
Bonnie Bryant is also the author of many novelizations of movies, including Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Karate Kid, and Honey, I Blew Up the Kid, written under her married name, B.B. Hiller. She also collaborated in the ghostwriting of The Baby-sitters Club Super Special #14: BSC in the USA, published under the name of its creator, Ann M. Martin.
Bonnie Bryant was born and raised in New York City. She met her husband, Neil W. Hiller, in college, where they both worked on the campus newspaper. They had two sons, Emmons Hiller and Andrew Hiller. Neil Hiller died in 1989. Many of Bonnie's books are dedicated to him.
***from wikipedia.org
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
December 24, 2020
Updated review - 24/12/2020:
I couldn't let the year go by without reading at least one 'Saddle Club' book. This one felt fitting. I realised while rereading the book this evening that this where I first learnt about Hanukkah. Also, for years I have wondered what a dreidel was. I had assumed a hat, for some odd reason. Today I finally Googled it while reading. Mystery solved!
Anyway, this is a lovely Christmas story and I always enjoy reading it. 💖🎄🐴
Original review - 17/11/2019:
All of The Saddle Club books are very dear to me, but I do think this is one of my favourites. For one thing, it's a Christmas story, something I typically enjoy. It focuses on Carole, who was always my favourite (though I love them all, and am actually most like Lisa), and this is the book that introduced Starlight, who was always one of my favourite horses.
Aside from this collision of favourites in one lovely book, this handles Carole's sadness about Christmas time, which isn't such a joyous time for her since her mother's death a couple of years prior to the first book. I always thought her journey through that grief was handled quite compassionately in this series. I've also always enjoyed the relationship between Carole and her father, Colonel Hanson.
Also, I love the cover for this book! In the actual story, there's no way they'd be allowed to ride without helmets (Max, their instructor is very strict about horse safety, as he should be) but I love the image, so I'm letting that slide!
I couldn't let the year go by without reading at least one 'Saddle Club' book. This one felt fitting. I realised while rereading the book this evening that this where I first learnt about Hanukkah. Also, for years I have wondered what a dreidel was. I had assumed a hat, for some odd reason. Today I finally Googled it while reading. Mystery solved!
Anyway, this is a lovely Christmas story and I always enjoy reading it. 💖🎄🐴
Original review - 17/11/2019:
All of The Saddle Club books are very dear to me, but I do think this is one of my favourites. For one thing, it's a Christmas story, something I typically enjoy. It focuses on Carole, who was always my favourite (though I love them all, and am actually most like Lisa), and this is the book that introduced Starlight, who was always one of my favourite horses.
Aside from this collision of favourites in one lovely book, this handles Carole's sadness about Christmas time, which isn't such a joyous time for her since her mother's death a couple of years prior to the first book. I always thought her journey through that grief was handled quite compassionately in this series. I've also always enjoyed the relationship between Carole and her father, Colonel Hanson.
Also, I love the cover for this book! In the actual story, there's no way they'd be allowed to ride without helmets (Max, their instructor is very strict about horse safety, as he should be) but I love the image, so I'm letting that slide!
December 7, 2024
Most of the Saddle Club books are not very memorable. This one is, especially since Breyer made a model horse of Starlight (original name: Pretty Boy Floyd -- which I actually preferred to Starlight, which is a "common" horse name (at least in horse stories, anyway).) It's a typical girl-meets-horse story, but charmingly done, nevertheless.
You don't have to read the previous books in the series to figure out what is going on here, but it's a good idea to have at least read one to get the general gist.
However, I can tell you the gist now -- THREE GIRLS WANT HORSES.
I believe this is the first Saddle Club book to mention religion. Phil's father is a Christian (no denomination mentioned) and his mother is Jewish.
Although this is mostly an upbeat book, there is some reality here. Carole and her vet come across someone who is abusing his horses by not cleaning out their stalls.
You don't have to read the previous books in the series to figure out what is going on here, but it's a good idea to have at least read one to get the general gist.
However, I can tell you the gist now -- THREE GIRLS WANT HORSES.
I believe this is the first Saddle Club book to mention religion. Phil's father is a Christian (no denomination mentioned) and his mother is Jewish.
Although this is mostly an upbeat book, there is some reality here. Carole and her vet come across someone who is abusing his horses by not cleaning out their stalls.
December 9, 2014
I have the Breyer model of Starlight. Just sayin'.
June 30, 2020
Always a pleasure to spend time with the Saddle club, it's cute, funny and like always, it made me cry. I love the friendship between those girls and i love the feeling that i'm almost with them riding a horse.
December 29, 2022
One of the best in the series. Maybe one year my loved ones will all band together to get me my dream horse for Christmas, but until then I will live vicariously through Carole.
Also love when the girls talk like middle aged women. Very Nancy Drew of them.
Also love when the girls talk like middle aged women. Very Nancy Drew of them.
January 16, 2023
Carole gets an amazing Christmas gift in the book from her wonderful father. I think every horse girl wished for a new horse at Christmastime. I know I did. This was a cute book, and I loved this series.
May 18, 2018
When the saddleclub members saw deer grazing with the horses was one of my favorite parts. -6 year old
June 6, 2019
To byl taaak pekny dil! Strasne mily, moc povedeny. A taky trochu dojemny, uz je to tak. Vanoce proste!
April 27, 2020
Coco Gray
I love this book so much especially because I have a pony called Cassie
It is a great book and I have read a lot of saddle Club books.
I love this book so much especially because I have a pony called Cassie
It is a great book and I have read a lot of saddle Club books.
January 25, 2023
I thought I didn't have any exclusively Christmas books on my shelf of unread books for 2022, but I was happily surprised to discover this Saddle Club book! I was just as delighted to discover the seamless inclusion of the Hanukkah celebrations. The lighting of the Menorah at Stevie's boyfriend Phil's house for the start of his family's Hanukkah celebrations was a beautiful scene.
I really like how Carole's grief is handled, and how everyone works to make this Christmas special for Carole while respecting that no matter what they do, she is still going to feel sad. Neither learning how to be an assistant veterinarian nor the best Christmas present ever are going to change the fact that it is still Christmas without her mother, and I love that everyone realizes that this is okay. As always, I loved Stevie's shenanigans and schemes to make Carole's Christmas better, and convince Veronica to decide the annual Starlight Ride isn't worth her time.
Speaking of learning to be a vet, I found those parts really interesting. I don't remember reading a book where Carole continues going on rounds with Judy, but I'd be quite happy to find that it continues. Carole gets to experience the best and a small taste of the worst of being a veterinarian.
I really like how Carole's grief is handled, and how everyone works to make this Christmas special for Carole while respecting that no matter what they do, she is still going to feel sad. Neither learning how to be an assistant veterinarian nor the best Christmas present ever are going to change the fact that it is still Christmas without her mother, and I love that everyone realizes that this is okay. As always, I loved Stevie's shenanigans and schemes to make Carole's Christmas better, and convince Veronica to decide the annual Starlight Ride isn't worth her time.
Speaking of learning to be a vet, I found those parts really interesting. I don't remember reading a book where Carole continues going on rounds with Judy, but I'd be quite happy to find that it continues. Carole gets to experience the best and a small taste of the worst of being a veterinarian.
September 10, 2018
In the thirteenth book in the Saddle Club series titled Starlight Christmas, Stevie, Carole and Lisa are gearing up for Christmas. For Carole Hanson this time of year is far from fun. She is all too aware of the loss of her mother and celebrating only with her father. Although she loves her father dearly, it is hard to not be sad coming into the Christmas season. Carole is determined to make this Christmas a delight for her father – she just has to work out how.
Read more at http://equus-blog.com/starlight-chris...
Read more at http://equus-blog.com/starlight-chris...
June 5, 2019
I distinctly remember this book as being one of my favorites of the series. Mostly because of Starlight, sure, but it’s also just a really fun book? You get a few good Stevie pranks and the boys are there… And I’ve always loved the Christmas saddle club books.
Also, re-reading this as an adult? I think it’s really cool that they made sure to include Hanukkah traditions. I’m trying to remember, but this might of been one of the only books I read as a kid that had a multi faith family in it and went out of its way to include multiple traditions in the actual plot.
Also, re-reading this as an adult? I think it’s really cool that they made sure to include Hanukkah traditions. I’m trying to remember, but this might of been one of the only books I read as a kid that had a multi faith family in it and went out of its way to include multiple traditions in the actual plot.
March 6, 2008
This was one of the many books given to me as a Christmas present. While I did enjoy it, I was currently pulling out of my phase with so many other series of this age group that I didn't go on with it. It probably also didn't grab me since I had very little experience (if any!) with horses), so I was unable to connect.
August 18, 2013
I've wanted to read this Saddle Club installment for AGES, so I was thrilled to get my hands on a copy. These books were a huge part of my childhood, a huge part of my motivation to get into horseback riding, and remain wonderfully entertaining to this day. :)
September 28, 2019
The One Where Carole Gets Her Christmas Wish
I actually got teary-eyed reading this one!
Phil Marston and his best friend A.J. are inducted into the Saddle Club for helping the girls foil a nasty plot by their arch-enemy, Veronica diAngelo.
Carole gets the Christmas wish of a lifetime.
I actually got teary-eyed reading this one!
Phil Marston and his best friend A.J. are inducted into the Saddle Club for helping the girls foil a nasty plot by their arch-enemy, Veronica diAngelo.
Carole gets the Christmas wish of a lifetime.
August 4, 2011
A good series for horse crazy young teens. I loved it when I was younger.
June 12, 2012
i am enjoying it so far
December 17, 2013
A nice Christmas story.
July 18, 2015
Being a huge horse lover in my childhood I was a big fan of the saddle club books. I read practically the whole series but this one was my personal favorites. Great for ages 8 to 12.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews