Sierra

Spirit of the West #2

by Kathleen Duey

When a new stallion takes over her herd, Sierra, the adventurous daughter of the escaped saddle horse, Bonita, finds herself alone until she meets a stallion who brings her into a Native American camp.

Genres: Horses, Animals, Historical Fiction, Fiction, Middle Grade, Childrens, Animal Fiction

128 pages, Paperback

First published April 15, 2002

About the author

Kathleen Duey grew up in Colorado. She loved riding her horses, hiking, being in the mountains. Reading was always important to her. Writing became a fascination early in her life. In the fourth grade, Kathleen began writing stories and told everyone who would listen that she was going to be an author. Then she did nothing about it until she was 35 years old. Writing was her passion and her dream-come-true.

from: fantasticfiction.co.uk

Kathleen died of cardiac arrest at her home in Fallbrook, California. She was 69. She had struggled with dementia in her latter years which prevented her from completing her Skin Hunger trilogy.

https://web.archive.org/web/202101052...

Reviews

[K.J. Haakenson]

Part three of reading books little me would love.
I honestly liked Sierra's character a lot - very fiery and almost like the human girls in the horse movies ("but dad, the mountains are calling and I want to RIDE FREE"). The connection to the OG movie at the end really sealed the deal on the nostalgia.

[Emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is about a wild horse named Sierra, who is Rain's mother. The series is a spinoff of sorts to the movie Spirit, Stallion of the Cimmaron, and it's fun to see where the horses in the movie came from, and to see where the book ties in to the movie.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Continuing my nostalgic childhood reads, this was a nice second book in the series focusing on the daughter of Bonita, Sierra. The author did an excellent job of carrying over a few characters from the first book while also keeping the storyline fresh.

[Ashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

My rating system

5- Gush/Absolutely Loved
4- Low Love/High Like
3- Like
2- Meh
1- Dislike/Hate

If it is a .5 star I round up

5 Stars

This is a book and also a series that I have always wanted to after learning about its existence but until now I have never had the chance. I highly recommend any horse lover or Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron fan to read it.

Sierra is the daughter of Raphael and Bonita. Growing up in Shadow and Tally's herd she has always been more energetic than the rest of the horses, besides the younger foals. Bonita has become one of Shadow's favorite mares and even takes turns with Tally leading the herd. Paco has become an official member of the herd even before Sierra was born, he helps Shadow protect the herd and watches out for danger with him. Sierra convinces her best friend Fern to play with her and gallop away from the herd but they encounter a pack of wolves, Shadow rushes over to protect them and the rest of the heard but he gets injured in the process. Tally forces Fern and Sierra out of the herd as punishment for being foolish and almost getting the herd hurt in the process. Shadow let's them follow him from a distance, after time passes Bonita allows them to re-enter the herd and let's Tally know that they have learned their lesson about getting carried away and getting themselves and others into a dangerous situation. A rogue stallion, Fuego is following the herd and challenges Shadow for the mares, unfortunately Shadow is an older stallion and he can't just scare him away he has to actually fight him. Shadow loses and Fuego wins the herd, the first thing he does is drive Shadow, Paco, and the colts away from the herd. Shadow, Paco and the colts form a small a herd and start following the herd from a distance. Winter is approaching faster than normal and the herd gets caught in a storm, wolves that are desperate for food decide to attack the herd. Fuego is defending the herd against the pack, but there are too many of them Sierra, Bonita and Tally help finish off the wolves saving Fuego and the herd. Fuego lets Sierra explore the area running around, searching for more food. A blizzard happens causing Sierra to find shelter, she gets lost and separated from the herd. She spots groups of horses and people causing her to hide in fear. Storm a pinto stallion gets separated from his humans and becomes lost in the wilderness. Storm finds Sierra and encourages her to follow him, she does so uneasily because he smells like smoke and humans, but she decides its better than being alone. They slowly start to bond and even fall in love becoming mates. Storm leads her back to his Native American village, always patient with her because he knows she's scared and also carrying his foal. When they reach the village Storm automatically goes in because he loves and trusts humans. Sierra stays weary of being around people. Storm is bonded to two humans in particular Big-shoulders and Little-Colt (this is the only thing that really irritated me during the whole book Little-Colt is a child and referred to as Little-Colt by Sierra but Little-Colt is a girl so it should have been Little-Filly though). Big-Shoulders and Little-Colt are brother and sister, Little-Colt has an injured leg (I think it's an injury) that is bowed and she wobbles on it a little. Little-Colt starts to lay out food for both Sierra and Storm and she can eventually paint on her and even put braids in her mane. The villagers try to capture Sierra causing Storm to protect her, Little-Colt, Big-Shoulders and their father Long-Mane tell the other villagers to leave her alone. Storm is placed elsewhere during the night and Sierra starts to go into labor during the night and is relieved that the human's fire will keep away any predator. Sierra gives birth to a little filly and a rain storm begins and Sierra believes that is the best name for her Rain. Storm is able to come back during the morning and meets his foal for the first time, he becomes protective of her and Sierra not wanting anyone to come near them for a few days. Rain being born near the scents of humans isn't afraid and before Sierra can stop her she gallops past her parents towards Little-Colt and Big-Shoulders, who have been watching Sierra during her labor to make sure everything was going smoothly, clearly like her father Stormy; Rain has no fear for the humans and trusts and loves them already.

[Sky · Rating 5 out of 5]

A quick cute read about a mare who gets separated from her herd. You can tell what it's going to be about just based on the cover but it was still a fun story and it was nice to get some world building in this one. I will never stop being mad that I lost Esperanza before I could read it.

[Mythical Mishmash · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one felt like the pacing was a little off and didn’t have as much umph as “Bonita” had, but it was still a good read nonetheless. Wish there’d been more depth to Rain’s father, Storm, too.
All in all I think I just wanted more. It’s such a shame that these books are so short!

[Stefany · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun quick read for most anyone! Especially if you're a fan of the original movie, it was fun to read about Rain's heritage.

[Angelica Frazer · Rating 2 out of 5]

Cute, short, and to the point. It was nice reading the background and history of the horses prior to the movie Spirit. I liked that it gave the background for Rain.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Note: I purchased this book second hand, at a Goodwill store.

SYNOPSIS: Sierra is a feisty young filly when natural disaster separates her from her herd of free horses. Alone and struggling to survive in the harsh elements, she encounters another horse who leads her to a Lakota encampment. But can Sierra find a place with them without sacrificing her freedom and independence?

MY THOUGHTS: This was a decently written and cute read. While I am definitely older than the target audience, the story still captivated my attention and kept it thoughout the book.

I really enjoyed HOW this book was written. There was no dialogue. Everything was written from the perspective of the horses, which was very clever. It was a quick read with tons of description, so it was easy to picture what was happening as I was reading it.

One thing I didn't like about this book was how most of the action was in the second half of the book, and the first half of the book sort of dragged. It took a while for the book to actually get going. Though the first few chapters, I thought that the book was slightly repetitive, telling the story of how excitable Sierra was, how she was a free spirit. There was little action unfolding.

Overall, this is a decently written book, and I would recommend it to horse lovers, especially those in the 8-14 age range. I give this book a solid 4/5 stars.

[stevie jo]

If I remember correctly, this book follows Sierra--who is actually the mother of Rain from the movies. And the only reason I do remember this is because it is raining when Rain is born, and Sierra thinks that it's a wonderful and fitting name.

[Sam Wescott · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've been re-reading these books since I found them at the library. I LOVED them as a kid and they pretty much hold up as what I remember. This a decent book about a horse who grows up in a wild herd and the becomes sorta domesticated. It's actually just kind of the reverse of the first book in the trilogy, Bonita, which is about this horse's mother.

It's a really straightforward series, with horses doing horse things. But man, I loved these books as a kid. I'm enjoying the nostalgia.

[Lavay Byrd · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an amazing sequel about Bonita's daughter, Sierra! This book opened my eyes to the "traditions" and life in a horse herd. Even though most of the events was "unfair", it was there way of life.

I was even surprised to witness an "entrance" a very familiar character from the movie "Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron".

Love it!

[Jenny Hakes · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is about a horse that did sum thing bad and on top of that a new stallion comes in to power. she ran fathere them ever befor and a snow storm comes so she cant go back. Then she finds and folws a lown stallion to he new home.

[Kieran · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first picked this book up at a yard sale years ago. I read it so much that the front 1/6th of the book fell off. I recently picked up a newer copy and was instantly transported to when I first owned this book. Recommended for the younger horse crazy kids.

[Lavayhorse16 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book. I like the part when she meets Storm, becomes freinds with the Indians, and gives birth to Rain

[Rebekah Meredith]

loved it!!

[Cami · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one is rains mother!

[Belle Meade School]

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