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Ashleigh's Thoroughbred Collection
Battlecry Forever!
"Battlecry is a loser."
Fifteen-year-old Leslie D'Andrea can have any horse she wants—her parents own stables where they train retired Thoroughbreds to become pleasure riders. But the only horse Leslie wants is Battlecry, a racer everyone else has given up on as wild and untrainable.
Leslie knows Battlecry is something more. Beneath his unpredictable behavior is a spirited horse who would give his all to win races again—for her.
Finally Leslie's parents give Battlecry a chance to prove his worth. Leslie doesn't know that by entering Battlecry in a race, she'll risk losing him forever...
Fifteen-year-old Leslie D'Andrea can have any horse she wants—her parents own stables where they train retired Thoroughbreds to become pleasure riders. But the only horse Leslie wants is Battlecry, a racer everyone else has given up on as wild and untrainable.
Leslie knows Battlecry is something more. Beneath his unpredictable behavior is a spirited horse who would give his all to win races again—for her.
Finally Leslie's parents give Battlecry a chance to prove his worth. Leslie doesn't know that by entering Battlecry in a race, she'll risk losing him forever...
192 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 1992
2 people are currently reading
204 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
January 14, 2012
This was the first book I read that made me cry. At that time (I was probably 10 or 11), I remember thinking that was silly. Now I realize that reading this book was a turning point in my relationship with reading. It made me see that reading can be so much more than just comprehending the words on the pages. Reading doesn't just happen in the brain - it happens in the heart too. For the first time in my life, I felt heartbreak when I read this story. I became a more rounded person, and I am incredibly grateful for that experience!
July 25, 2022
I remember this as the first book that made me properly cry (aged 9, 10 or so) - so much so that my mom told me to stop reading it over and over again because I was just inconsolable for hours. Feeling a bit of childhood reading nostalgia these days, I'll definitely give it a reread when in need of a good cry.
December 21, 2018
Den første og sannsynlig siste boken fra Pennyklubben jeg kommer til å lese. Overraskende god dialog og overraskende ensporet handling uten den store motstanden før tragedien plutselig slo til tre sider før slutt.
November 21, 2017
Great young reader's story full of horses and heart.
May 31, 2013
Battlecry Forever
Leslie a 15 year old girl that can have any horse she ever dreamed of her parents own a ranch where retired race horses are trained to be pleasureable horses.But when Leslie goes to a horse auction with her dad she sees a beautiful black horse a Thourghbred named Battlecry. She helpless wants him more than any other horse. When she pleads to her father but he says that he will think about it. But a kill buyer wants to buy him she can't let battlecry go to the slaughterhouse she knows that there is some good left in the horse. She ends up getting him for $400. Battlecry is very tempered and little bit wild. People say that he is untrainable he is to wild. Leslie believes that Battlecry is so much more than that. Beneath his unpredictable behavior is a spirited horse that is will to his his all to win races agin- for Leslie. Finally Leslies parents give Battlecry a chance to prove his worth. But she has only two months to train him and get him into shape. Leslie runs him at the track and he impresses everyone and his dad think its only a start. Battlecry is put into a couple of races and he wins them and he makes publicity, and becomes a star. But soon after Battlecry chooses three mares and breeds with them and by January they'd be born. When Battlecry is put into a race that will change his life and Leslies life forever. Battlecry is off and he gets behind at first then soon he catches up to them and Karen the jockey gives him rein and he is focused and he runs like he never has before, and when a horse bumps into him he stumbles and people were gasping but he makes it and gets back into the lead and then he pushes himself and he wins and comes in first place, everybody in the audience is cheering with joy, but when Battlecry comes to a canter he collapses and is shaking and Leslie runs to help Battlecry and tells him you can die you cant leave me the vet checks his heart beat but tells her shes gone. Everybody was really sad mostly Leslie people tell her he is gone for good but Leslie knows he is not and he will always be with her and she knows he died for something he loved to do! I loved the book but the ending was very heartbreaking and unexpected.
Leslie a 15 year old girl that can have any horse she ever dreamed of her parents own a ranch where retired race horses are trained to be pleasureable horses.But when Leslie goes to a horse auction with her dad she sees a beautiful black horse a Thourghbred named Battlecry. She helpless wants him more than any other horse. When she pleads to her father but he says that he will think about it. But a kill buyer wants to buy him she can't let battlecry go to the slaughterhouse she knows that there is some good left in the horse. She ends up getting him for $400. Battlecry is very tempered and little bit wild. People say that he is untrainable he is to wild. Leslie believes that Battlecry is so much more than that. Beneath his unpredictable behavior is a spirited horse that is will to his his all to win races agin- for Leslie. Finally Leslies parents give Battlecry a chance to prove his worth. But she has only two months to train him and get him into shape. Leslie runs him at the track and he impresses everyone and his dad think its only a start. Battlecry is put into a couple of races and he wins them and he makes publicity, and becomes a star. But soon after Battlecry chooses three mares and breeds with them and by January they'd be born. When Battlecry is put into a race that will change his life and Leslies life forever. Battlecry is off and he gets behind at first then soon he catches up to them and Karen the jockey gives him rein and he is focused and he runs like he never has before, and when a horse bumps into him he stumbles and people were gasping but he makes it and gets back into the lead and then he pushes himself and he wins and comes in first place, everybody in the audience is cheering with joy, but when Battlecry comes to a canter he collapses and is shaking and Leslie runs to help Battlecry and tells him you can die you cant leave me the vet checks his heart beat but tells her shes gone. Everybody was really sad mostly Leslie people tell her he is gone for good but Leslie knows he is not and he will always be with her and she knows he died for something he loved to do! I loved the book but the ending was very heartbreaking and unexpected.
August 6, 2012
So I’m rereading my old collection of children’s novels, and this is one I bought and never got to. This is definitely one of my favourites of the genre, and reminds me why I fell in love with the original Thoroughbred novels by Joanna Campbell in the first place.
I really like Leslie as a heroine. She’s relatively smart, talented, and maintains a full life outside of horses. She hangs out with friends, has kind of a thing going on with another guy, and the book has a smattering of normal teen activities like parties, football games, and beach dates that is generally missing from these types of novels. I also really liked her parents, and the complex relationships between all the people in her life—I found them to be very realistically done.
Battlecry was excellently done, rightly capturing the typical behaviour of the breed. The only thing I’m going to say I didn’t like about the novel that kept it from a higher rating was a) the complete lack of a real antagonist in regards to the horse. We have at one point, a potential buyer who is turned down, and a jerk boyfriend to her friend Kim, but that part isn’t too important to the plot. And b) Battlecry. Wins. Every. Time. With a hand ride. I’m sorry, this just doesn’t happen. It killed a little of the suspenseful build-up at the end when there wasn’t any real comeback after his rescue.
But the ending in which he dies from a massive coronary really had me in tears, and shocked me as an ending. For me, it was a matter of his finding finally love and redemption after a lifetime of abuse, but being able to hold on to it for so little. Just remembering it has me tearing up a little.
Overall, really good book for horse-loving or race-loving readers.
I really like Leslie as a heroine. She’s relatively smart, talented, and maintains a full life outside of horses. She hangs out with friends, has kind of a thing going on with another guy, and the book has a smattering of normal teen activities like parties, football games, and beach dates that is generally missing from these types of novels. I also really liked her parents, and the complex relationships between all the people in her life—I found them to be very realistically done.
Battlecry was excellently done, rightly capturing the typical behaviour of the breed. The only thing I’m going to say I didn’t like about the novel that kept it from a higher rating was a) the complete lack of a real antagonist in regards to the horse. We have at one point, a potential buyer who is turned down, and a jerk boyfriend to her friend Kim, but that part isn’t too important to the plot. And b) Battlecry. Wins. Every. Time. With a hand ride. I’m sorry, this just doesn’t happen. It killed a little of the suspenseful build-up at the end when there wasn’t any real comeback after his rescue.
But the ending in which he dies from a massive coronary really had me in tears, and shocked me as an ending. For me, it was a matter of his finding finally love and redemption after a lifetime of abuse, but being able to hold on to it for so little. Just remembering it has me tearing up a little.
Overall, really good book for horse-loving or race-loving readers.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 27, 2016
This was my favorite Joanna Campbell book back in the 1990s when I collected the paperbacks. Keep in mind that I was not on the medication for my mental illness then as I am now. Anyway, this book ties in VERY loosely in the Thoroughbred series, since Battlecry winds up being the sire of a mare introduced in Book 5. Battlecry was one of those horses I wish was real. I do not know if he was based on a real thoroughbred or other breed of horse. Perhaps.
This uses the old chestnut of "loser horse falls under wing of hopeful kid to save the farm" plot line but here it works very well. This is because the story is centered on the thoroughbred Battlecry and not about the people, although they do intrude every now and then. There is a strange sub-plot about the protagonist's friend that gets into trouble that has nothing to do with the rest of the book. I guess Campbell was told to work a PSA for teens in her manuscript somewhere. I wound up not caring one jot about the stupid friend and just wanted to read about Battlecry.
WARNING: The book does get unashamedly sentimental. Brace yourself.
This uses the old chestnut of "loser horse falls under wing of hopeful kid to save the farm" plot line but here it works very well. This is because the story is centered on the thoroughbred Battlecry and not about the people, although they do intrude every now and then. There is a strange sub-plot about the protagonist's friend that gets into trouble that has nothing to do with the rest of the book. I guess Campbell was told to work a PSA for teens in her manuscript somewhere. I wound up not caring one jot about the stupid friend and just wanted to read about Battlecry.
WARNING: The book does get unashamedly sentimental. Brace yourself.
August 16, 2013
So apparently pretty much all horse girls book are written by Joanna Campbell. I base this, clearly, on having read two horse books - that I actually remember - both written by her, anyway. This book, I would reread it again if I still had it now. This was so good, so sad, and so wonderful. Even though I had a subscription for a while to a horrible horse magazine, I was never that into horses, but man, this book - WOW. And the ending is like being stabbed in the heart, kind of. Devastating. Kids should learn to deal with that stuff early.
May 13, 2013
I really like Leslie as a heroine. She’s relatively smart, talented, and maintains a full life outside of horses. She hangs out with friends, has kind of a thing going on with another guy, and the book has a smattering of normal teen activities like parties, football games, and beach dates that is generally missing from these types of novels. I also really liked her parents, and the complex relationships between all the people in her life—I found them to be very realistically done.
May 5, 2008
read this book back in middle school. It was a sad book, made me cry my heart out. From what i remember it was a good book but the sadness in it ruined it for me.
July 5, 2008
Another "Ashleigh's Collection" book--any horse book lover would enjoy it.
December 14, 2010
I loved the setting and the way it made me feel It was very touching.
March 31, 2012
I really loved this book...there are a lot of cliches at work but the ending made me sob and I love a good emotional pay-off! Highly recommend this as the best of Joanna Campbell's books.
May 6, 2012
I wasn't really expecting the ending when the horse dies. But, it happens in real life so why not in fiction? Good book that made my eyes water.
January 8, 2014
Dolor ea necessitatibus id rerum et in. Sunt illum laboriosam. Veniam rerum alias in. Consequatur in nesciunt fugiat molestiae tempora in doloremque.
June 11, 2014
Yep, the ending still makes me cry.
July 22, 2016
Oklart datum. Jättefin bok som fick mig att gråta.
August 8, 2020
Battlecry Forever used to be one of my favourite horse novels as a child and I recently re-discovered my love of horse books, so this was one of the books I immediately had to look up again - though I had to go into quite a lot of trouble to get a copy of it since it's been out of print for ages. I was expecting it to have aged poorly, considering how young I was when I first read it, but I was happily surprised by how enjoyable a read it was even as an adult in my 30's! The main character is likeable and relatable despite her young age, and Campbell's description about the world of US horse racing is captivating and detailed as ever. The stallion, Battlecry, captured my heart just as surely as he did when I was a child. Can easily recommend to both younger and older readers alike if horses and horse racing are close to your heart.
December 25, 2025
As a kid with dyslexia and a love for anything remotely horse related this book was the first book I ever managed to read all on my own. I wouldn't have made it if it wasn't for the captivating story that motivated me to keep reading despite taking forever to decipher each word and understand each sentence. I can still remember feeling the wet collar of my pyjamas (from crying uncontrollably) and the sense of pride when I finally read the last pages.
I haven't read it since then and I am almost scared to now. This book has probably meant more to me than I am able to understand myself. I'm forever grateful.
I haven't read it since then and I am almost scared to now. This book has probably meant more to me than I am able to understand myself. I'm forever grateful.
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January 19, 2022This is the horsiest horsey story I ever read. I understand there are a bajillion other volumes in the series, but this one stands on its own. Its lexicon is solid gold for horsey people.
January 11, 2025
A childhood favorite that brought me to tears. Read it in 3 days which is very fast for me
January 1, 2015
Grade: B
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews