Bonita

Spirit of the West #1

by Kathleen Duey

When shots are fired at the Alamo, elegant Bonita is torn from her beloved mistress and forced into a life of hardship. But newfound strength enables her to escape her captors and embrace a life of freedom on the open frontier.
https://openlibrary.org/books/OL73604...

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

144 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 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

[Lavay Byrd · Rating 4 out of 5]

I remember seeing this book and the others in the series in a library back in Germany, when I was younger (Can't remember how old I was).

Some time later, I found the series in a bookstore, and it took me a moment to realize that this was based off of one of my favorite movies: Spirit - Stallion of the Cimarron!

I adored Bonita and loved how the author writes from the mare's point of view as she faces challenges, fears, new friends, and eventually a new life. Even though some parts was sad, it became better in the end.

Love this book and the series! There are so few books out there that's just told from a horse.

[Sam Wescott · Rating 4 out of 5]

So, I found this book at the library recently and HAD to check it out because this short series of horse books was, like, my FAVORITE set of books in elementary. I remember buying the novelization of the Spirit movie before came out and then discovering these other books and being completely overjoyed.

Basically, the books work similarly to the movie - the horses are sentient in the same way as humans, but don't talk and generally act like horses do in real life, just anthropomorphized. As a kid, I LOVED this. I thought this made the books super realistic and that I was learning all sorts of stuff about wild horses and herd dynamics etc. Haha. While that's not true at all, the rest of the story stood up pretty well.

Not a whole lot happens, plot-wise, but if you like horses, you can't really go wrong with this book. It's pretty much about a pampered riding horse accidentally getting caught up in the Alamo kerfluffle and then running away, learning to be wild, and joining a herd of wild horses. It's pretty straightforward - a great nostalgic read.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nostalgia read from my childhood - I enjoyed the beginning of each chapter with its little section of horse thoughts. The author weaves historical events (The Alamo in this one) into her equine tales & it was fun to peek into the origin story of Rain’s maternal grandmother.

[Brianna Gorey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I started reading this book because I didn’t want to finish the book I am currently reading too quickly. So I picked up this one to re-read. And ended up finishing it after an hour and a half. I really enjoyed the little tale of Bonita, and am happy that I uncovered more of the history of the spirit book series. I’ll probably continue to read the rest of the books in the series overtime. This one was read on a whim, but I throughly enjoyed it nonetheless.

[Stefany · Rating 4 out of 5]

Had to read these when I found out there was a prequel series to the original Spirit movie. Definitely written with a younger audience in mind, but still very enjoyable for my adult self!

[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

4.75 Stars

This is a book and a series that I have always wanted to after learning about its existence but until now I have never had the chance. There are so many heartbreakingly sad moments which is why this isn't a solid 5 Stars, but I highly recommend any horse lover or Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron fan to read it.

Bonita is a beautiful mare that is pampered and loved dearly by her owner Maria. The war has finally reached the town and Maria terrified of what will happen to Bonita and the other horses sets them loose in the hopes that they will run away and not be taken by the soldiers. Bonita gets captured by a soldier and is used as a war horse until she's able to escape with a donkey named Paco. The duo encounter a wild palomino stallion Raphael. Bonita has seen him before from afar while she was still living with Maria and admired how he was able to run free, avoiding being captured by wranglers. The three of them travel together, Raphael becomes the protector of their little herd. Tragedy strikes the herd during winter and the trio becomes a duo again. Raphael dies protecting Bonita and Paco from an avalanche. Paco and Bonita finally reach a safe place where another herd lives, the lead mare doesn't accept them at first. Seeing the pregnant mares and already born foals Bonita realizes that the fluttering in her stomach and the constant eating is actually her being pregnant herself. Bonita is overjoyed that her beloved Raphael will be able to live on in their foal. As the duo tries to join the herd more the stallion Shadow embraces them wearily but the lead mare is not ready to accept them, while moving the herd there is a flash flood and Bonita saves another mare's foal and this gains the respect from the lead mare which lets them fully join the herd. Sometime passes and Bonita moves away from the herd to give birth to her foal in the privacy of the pine trees, Paco comes with her. Shadow passes between where the herd is and where Bonita is making sure everything is safe and going how it should be, Bonita gives birth to a sorrel pinto filly. Bonita remembers Sierra, Maria's word for the high mountain of her girlhood home. It was a high mountain where Raphael had been lost saving her life. Sierra seemed to be the perfect name for Bonita's filly.

[Mythical Mishmash · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun but emotional read. My only complaint is that I wish it had been longer!

[Emory Ivie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bonita is a beautiful, white mare, owned by a wealthy mistress in San Antonio. Her life is pampered, and she holds her head high as she carries her mistress around, but her perfect life takes a terrible turn when the battle at the Alamo begins, and she is stolen from her home and ridden off into battle. After escaping out onto the open frontier, she finds a new life for herself as a wild horse and joins a herd of mustangs. She even has the chance to start a family ...

I loved this book. It was so entertaining and you could clearly hear how Bonita was thinking during all of the changes in her life. This book teaches about integrity, perseverance, and most importantly, determination. I would recommend this book to young readers of ages 7 to 10.

[Anna-Mariya Petrova · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bonita lives at a stable in Alamo and she loves her life. It is a calm and happy life. One day she hears shooting and her life changes completely. Her mistress forces her to escape and be free. But Bonita doesn't want this freedom, because with it comes fear and she doesn't know what to do. Will she be able to survive and find others like her? Eventually she meets Paco. After that she feels less scared and alone. Then they meet Raphael. The three of them really liked each other's company. One situation made Raphael sacrifice himself in order to save his friends. Bonita misses him every day. She soon comes to the understanding that she bears his child. She is happy because she still has a part of Raphael with her. What will happen next?

[Matilda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ezer éve kinéztem magamnak ezt a sorozatot, ha már a Szilaj inspirálta és az a kedvenc filmem valaha. Most végre elolvastam és ez nagyon is jó döntésnek bizonyult, mert a legjobb lovas könyvek azok, amikben a lehető legkevesebb ember van és a lovak szemszögéből nézzük. Az egyetlen, amire nem voltam felkészülve, hogy végig fogom bőgni a második felét ennek a könyvnek. A stílus és a hangulat is nagyon tetszett, és hát LOVAK, szóval nem kell meglepődni, hogy ennyire tetszett. Jöhet a folytatás! <3

[Olivia Stagaard · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I heard there was not just one, but multiple books written/inspired by one of my favorite movies, Spirit: Stallion Of The Cimarron, i knew i had to read them.

I really liked this book, it was written in a way that I made it easy for me to read and i got through it in less than an hour. I loved the characters and the way their personalities and bonds with each other were described. I only wish it had been longer, but thankfully there are three more books to read.

[SlyBlue · Rating 4 out of 5]

Me ha encantado definitivamente, me siento triste por el hecho de que encontré este de casualidad en internet y es bastante complicado hacerse con los demás pero lo disfruté mucho.
Me muero por leer la historia de Esperanza más que cualquiera de las demás que están aquí pero lastimosamente es demasiado complicada de conseguir.

[Lauren Eliza · Rating 4 out of 5]

My inner child was very pleased with this short story. I had no idea these existed until recently and my library only had this one listed, but hopefully I can track down the other three books in this series. An easy, light-weight read for my lunch breaks.

[PumpkinParker · Rating 5 out of 5]

WAUUGHHH this is such a sweet and heartbreaking and hopeful book and I love the animal friendships in it and how unrelentingly they care about each other and how vivid the descriptions of the natural world are. I can't stop thinking about this book

[Lily Hwang · Rating 3 out of 5]

Honestly I love the story. In my honest opinion, it's not exceptional writing in a conventional sense but it's short and serves as a pleasant distraction from the chaos of life.

[Angelica Frazer · Rating 2 out of 5]

Cute, short book that builds the background for the famous movie, Spirit. It was an easy read with an interesting perspective.

[Lavayhorse16 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like this book

[Madalyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

it was a really good book

[Bree · Rating 4 out of 5]

Notes:
different from the other 3 in this set -- war, violence, death
very sad part in the middle, but overall still a great book
my daughter's favorite of the four

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this. If not for the one sad part near the end, I would have given it five stars. Still a really good book, regardless.

[Becky · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an adequate book, but it lacked heart. Even as a kid, I don't think this would have been one of my favorites. I did like Paco, though.

[iuliana]

i wasn't ready for the emotional roller coaster that this little book was. really neat extra piece of content for lovers of the movie.

[Belle Meade School]

FIC
DUE