Sarah's Long Ride

by Susan Page Davis

The Bandicoot 100 is coming up, and Sarah Piper and her horse Icicle are registered for the race. But Sarah s mother has recently died, leaving Sarah without a riding partner. Adjusting to a new home with Uncle Joe and far from her friends, Sarah realizes that endurance is not something she needs just for the race. She needs it for life. Teen girls will enjoy this fresh, upbeat story of a girl facing her grief and finding strength to follow her dream."

184 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

FROM AUTHOR'S WEBSITE: I'm a native of central Maine, and grew up on a small farm with a wonderful mom and dad, three sisters and a brother. Most of my books take place in small towns, many of them in Maine.

My husband, Jim, and I moved to his birth state, Oregon, for a while after we were married, but decided to move back to Maine and be near my family. It allowed our six children to grow up feeling close to their cousins and grandparents, and some of Jim's family have even moved to Maine!

Our children are all home-schooled. When Jim retired from his vocation as an editor at a daily newspaper, we moved from Maine to Kentucky.

I've always loved reading, history, and horses. These things come together in several of my historical books.
Another longtime hobby of mine is genealogy, which has led me down many fascinating paths. I'm proud to be a DAR member! Some of Jim's and my quirkier ancestors have inspired fictional characters.

For many years I worked for the Central Maine Morning Sentinel as a freelancer. This experience was a great help in developing fictional characters and writing realistic scenes. I also published nonfiction articles in several magazines and had several short stories appear in Woman's World, Grit, and Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine.

Reviews

[Gmc · Rating 5 out of 5]

SARA'S FATHER DIED WHEN SHE WAS 8, NOW HER MOTHER HAS PASSED. HER UNCLE JO TAKES HER TO LIVE WITH HIM. HE ALSO LETS HER KEEP HER AND HER MOTHERS HORSES. THEY HAD RIDDEN IN COMPETION TRAIL RIDES. THE UNCLE IS A HORSE TRAINER AND GREAT HORSEMAN. BUT HE IS NOT MUCH OF A TALKER.
WILL HE LET HER GO ON THE LAST TRAIL RIDE HER MOTHER ENTERED THEM IN?
WILL SHE FIND HAPPINESS AGAIN?
GREAT BOOK FOR GIRLS THAT LOVE HORSES.

[Jill Williamson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sarah’s Long Ride, by Susan Page Davis, is a story of a girl on a new life journey. After the tragic death of her mother, fourteen-year old Sarah Piper goes to live with her uncle Joe on his ranch in Eastern Oregon. She hardly knows her uncle, but he offers to let Sarah bring her horse, Icicle, and her mother’s horse, Clover, along. Desperate to keep both horses, Sarah acclimates to isolated life in the country and tries to get to know her shy uncle. She worries he doesn’t like her and never really wanted to have a teenage girl come live with him.

She watches him train horses and keeps Icicle and Clover in shape by riding them every day. The horses once competed in endurance races. Sarah hopes Uncle Joe will partner with her as a sponsor for the Bandicoot 100, a big upcoming race.

Sarah misses her mother desperately. As time goes on, she and Uncle Joe grow closer, and she starts to learn his way of communicating. He truly does care for her. They have love for God and horses in common. Uncle Joe signs them up for the Bandicoot 100, the longest ride of Sarah’s life. By the time the race starts, Sarah has learned to lean on God for strength in any pursuit in life.

Sarah’s Long Ride is a heartwarming story of perseverance and faithfulness in all things. I enjoyed seeing Sarah and Uncle Joe become a family. Recommended.

[Bekah · Rating 5 out of 5]

An awesome book! I highly recommend it for a good, clean read.