Changing Leads

Pine Hollow #4

by Bonnie Bryant

Tensions are high between Stevie and Scott, who has never forgiven Stevie for the car accident that injured his sister, and now that Stevie's boyfriend, Phil, and Scott are hanging together, something's got to give. Original.

Genres: Young Adult, Horses, Animals, Childrens, Fiction

240 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 12, 1999

About the author

American 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

Reviews

[Kino McFarland · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's still kind of weird re-reading these as an adult. I see how much they influenced my approach to interpersonal relationships, but at the same time, they are not written very well. Yet, I was completely captivated as a kid.

[Danielle Booey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have to admit I never felt nearly as much angst or strong emotions as a teen as Carole, Stevie, and Lisa are experiencing in Pine Hollow.

Let’s see, school has started and the girls are once again juggling that along with their horses, boyfriends, and friend drama. Lisa and Callie are awkward and stilted around each other as they attempt to navigate each other’s friendship with Carole and Stevie. Stevie and Callie’s brother Scott still aren’t speaking despite Stevie’s overtures of friendship. And Carole, well Carole is wrapped up in thoughts about show jumping glory and stable secrets.

As is the norm some of these plot points are resolved in this book and others carry on to the next book. I’m telling you now Prancer is pregnant. It’s the only explanation.

Hoping that Lisa gets a bit more air time in the next book since this one was more Stevie and Carole focused again. Or maybe it’s just seems that way cause Lisa’s sections are always full of Alex and he annoys me haha.

[Stefanie Robinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stevie and Phil are still together, but they are running into problems. Phil is hanging out and becoming good friends with Scott, the brother of Callie. Scott hates Stevie and blames her for Callie's injuries in the car crash. Stevie is to blame, as she was driving, but his anger is really misplaced. This was a book full of teen drama.

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The girls are still not talking about the important things.

[Jerry (Rebel With a Massive Media Library) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Synopsis

It's back to school for Stevie and friends, but the problems that arose over the summer are still lingering. For one, Scott is still upset with Stevie over the accident that injured his sister, Callie. To make matters worse, Stevie's significant other starts hanging out with him. Will they ever be able to make amends? After a summer in sunny California, Lisa is back in her home of Virginia, but she still feels like an outsider among her friends. Can she get back in step with them? Meanwhile, Carole's new responsibilities at work threaten her relationship with one of her best friends. Is their friendship doomed?

My Review

I had two quibbles with this one. First off: The accident happened in the first book; how much longer are they going to talk about it? Second off: What's with the usage of profanity? Though there's only one case of it, I thought these books would be free of such language. Other than that, I enjoyed this one; I just hope the verging into "PG" territory isn't indicative of even worse moral content to come.

Score: 3/5

[Zaza (Mackenzie) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lisa isn't fitting in, after getting home from her vacation. Scott is blaming Stevie for the accident that hurt his sister, and Carole is keeping a secret, that she dosen't want to keep.