A Horse for Angel

by Sarah Lean

Sometimes when things are broken you can't fix them on your own - no matter how hard you try. When Nell is sent to stay with distant family, she packs a suitcase full of secrets. A chance encounter with a wild horse draws Nell to Angel - a mysterious, troubled girl who is hiding secrets of her own. Both girls must learn to trust each other, if they are to save a hundred horses . . .


A HORSE FOR ANGEL is a story about finding something special in the most unlikely place.

Genres: Middle Grade, Animals, Horses, Childrens, Juvenile, Fiction, Fantasy

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2013

About the author

My fascination with animals began when I was aged 8 and a stray cat walked in the back door and decided to adopt me. As a child, I wanted to be a writer and used to dictate stories to my mother, but eventually I bought a laptop and decided I could type them myself. I live in Dorset and share the space around my desk with two dogs, Harry and Coco. MA in Creative and Critical Writing from University of Winchester.

Reviews

[Shelby · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 Stars
I really love reading about horses because I love horses. After reading this book it was really cute. Probably the cutest one that I have read so far. I really love the characters Angel and Nella. There personally is probably why I like them the most best to me it is almost like me in a way that loves horses and would anything for them. The story line was great. I am glad I read this book because it was really cute and really good. I would recommend this book to anyone that is loves cute horse stories or just like horses in general.

[Kristen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wasn't really looking forward to this one because I'm not a big fan of horse stories, but it was surprisingly enjoyable. It focuses on things like family, abandonment, and finding your voice--and the horses are just kind of a side bar. At first our two main characters (Nelly and Angel) are kind of unlikable, but as their stories come to light I found myself enjoying the story and anticipating the ending.

[Olive · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is about a girl named Nell. Nell loves to visit her loving nanna where she can play cards and watch TV all day. Nells mother has had to work ever since something happened to her dad. Every year Nells mother goes on a business trip and Nell gets to visit her fun loving nanna. Nells nanna can't watch Nell this year because she has had medical issues. When Nells mother tells her she will be going to the country with her aunt and two younger cousins, Gem and Alfie, she does not want to leave her mother! The mystery revolving around the hundred horses brings nell all the joy she could wish for. I would recommend this book to horse lovers and mystery book lovers. I think Sarah Lean is an amazing author.

[KillerFrost · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is such a detailed book i loved it so much. It about a horse and two girls one named Angel and one named Nell.

[17bushellk003 · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good book however it was a bit boring at some point .Boys and girls can read this to .Nell is sent away -she packs a suitcase if secrets -which she didn't want anyone to know or find out about .she has dreams and then is drawn closer to a wild horse .The horse also draws Nell closer to Angle who is hiding secrets if her own.They learn to trust each other .

[Mia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was quite the page turner. It was so good and it really kept me on my toes. The fact that it had friendship, drama, adventure, excitement, and horses is a win win for me. ♥️

[Erin Mash · Rating 4 out of 5]

Theme of this book is friendship because Nellie becomes friends with a girl named Angel who isn't really liked by other people. The book shows that you should always give people a chance no mateer what their reputation is.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Halfway through reading this short children's book, I lost it among the stacks and stacks of books in my apartment for about four weeks and wasn't really in any hurry to find and finish it. I think that says a lot about the kind of book it is - I enjoyed it, certainly, and I think the target audience will too. But in the end, the main character Nell failed to captivate me. I finished the book mostly to find out the resolution of her relationship with Angel, and to tie up the music box storyline, which I thought was very nicely done. Three stars - I liked it, but wasn't wowed.

[༺Kiki༻ · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you liked this book, you might also enjoy:

✱ Season of Ponies
✱ A Dog Called Homeless
✱ Wonder Light

[Betsy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is really a bit of magical realism in the guise of realistic fiction. A book more about a young girl starting to "find herself" and her growing friendship with another lonely girl than it is about horses. It didn't grab me, and I'm trying to figure out why. Sometimes the writing felt slow, the pacing off a touch. I also got annoyed with the vernacular/bad grammar. Not a bad book, just not awesome.

[Suzanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Me and my daughter read this. It's a tender story about an unlikely friendship between two young girls, this book demonstrates how love and trust between friends and families can help overcome difficulties in a most unlikely way

[Rachel Sharpe · Rating 2 out of 5]

Realistic. Realistic. Realistic. Realistic. Fantasy?!?!?!

[Christine · Rating 2 out of 5]

a quick read, however, I didn't really enjoy it. Can't connect with them all, right.

[Halsey's Little Hurricane · Rating 4 out of 5]

this book is really gripping... it is amazing! i love the storyline and the characters!

[Wynee Igel · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is about 11-year-old Nell who thinks her single mom dislikes everything about Nell's father including Nell. She finds a disassembled carousel that was her father's and secretly takes it with her when she visits her aunt on a small farm. Next door is the home of a recently widowed woman with a herd of horses. A runaway girl hiding next door, Angel, takes the case and the two begin a friendship - Nell helps Angel figure out how to take care of the horses and Angel helps Nell put the carousel back together.

My daughter loves horses so I am always on the lookout for horse books. I recently checked this out and started reading it. A little ways in I realized that I had read this book before. Since I don't remember a lot of details, I'd say that says something about the story. If you have a horse-crazy girl, then they'll love almost any horse book.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I give this book five stars, I love how the writer of the book made it like a little bit of mystery and a little bit of drama. Whenever I would stop reading this book, I got sad or mad at my teacher for making me stop because it was time for something else, I've read this book like 10 times, it is my favorite book ever, I remember ever single scene, even though I read this book 1 or 2 months ago at my latest. I'm so thankful that this book is on this app, if it wasn't, this would not be a really good app... I don't want to spoil much but, I love how Angle is like mysterious, and steals, but her name is Angle. 😆. This book was not long in my opinion, sense I loved the book a lot, I love mysteries, and I love drama in books, I loveeeeeeeeee this book, I hope everybody loves it as much as me!!!

[Rifa.Rahmah123 · Rating 5 out of 5]

When Nell was sent to stay with distant family, she packed a suitcase full of secrets. When she got there, she met a girl called Angel. Both girls had secrets, everyone had secrets. But Angel was dangerous, Rita said. Could Nell trust her? Things got stolen, even goats and some blankets. Days have gone by and both girls got closer and closer. The challenge Nell had to take is to find who stole all those things from the neighbours. What I like about this book is that this book is about friendship and trusting each other. I'd give it a 10/10

[Hailey Baldwin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Every time I tried to read this book I always ended up finding something else that I thought I might like more but I finally decided I wanted to try to finish the whole thing, and I'm glade I did because I couldn't stop reading it. Sometimes when I was reading it I tried to predict what was going to happen next and I was so confident about my prediction, but when the part I was predicting came up I was always wrong. I like how this book kept me guessing, which also made me want to read more this is a great book and I am glade I read it.

[Susan Miller · Rating 3 out of 5]

A summer vacation mystery and adventure for a young girl named Nell. Nell is used to living in the city, but find herself in the country and immediately meets a mysterious girl that steals her luggage with the carousel that her father made. It's the only thing Nell has since her father left the family.

The farm next door has 99 horses. Angel is the mysterious girl and she & Nell form an unlikely alliance with Angel telling the tale of how the 100th horse can either bring great things or ruin.

With the birth of the 100th horse brings the tale to its satisfying conclusion.

[Sam · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such a great book! My daughter checked this out from the school library and said, "Mom, I checked it out for you because I thought you'd like it!" Little did I know that my daughter picks out books for me better than I do. I just loved this book! I can't say it enough. My daughter finished it before I did and talked about how great it was. I'm so glad I read this. I enjoyed the author's writing for children to read and I could still read it as an adult and love it. Read this book! I'd give it 10 stars if I could!

[Katherine Jackson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm definitely a little old for this book, but my inner horse person said to read it. I think it was one of those cliche horse books for sure, but it has a good plot to it. I think someone in 4th or 5th grade would really enjoy this book. It's just right to transition them into more detailed books with more detailed characters. It was a cute book for some light reading.

[Lia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I could not put it down. when I read it I felt like I was in the book along side the vary real characters.
this book will be appealing to all ages. this is a soon-to-be classic of its own time.


I LOVED THIS BOOK and would recommend it to all ages!

[Adam · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wondrous story about two girls and horses Sarah lean truly outdid herself , guaranteed to make you cry

Different from all the other books I have read in a fantastic way, fast reading and will certainly bring different emotions

[Bonnie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Eh. Yawn. Not sure what else to say. I never felt like I knew any of these characters and the story rambled and didn't really make a lot of sense.

[Heidi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Delightful junior book about friendship, angels-among-us, wishes and friendship.

[sonnet :) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was not the best book. It does not really make much sense.

[Angie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mandy Williams is an amazing actress, I could listen to her all day. Beautifully read and performed; we all fell in love with the story.

[Jaclyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was OK. Nothing to write home about.

[Bethany · Rating 1 out of 5]

Clunky and difficult to connect with; more about the young characters than the horses which feels like the wrong choice for this genre of book. Quick read but repetitive in content.

[Nikki Embry · Rating 2 out of 5]

I looked forward to trying this because I love horse stories but I couldn’t really connect with any of it. The story wasn’t believable to me and I just couldn’t connect with the characters.