Penny

Horse Diaries #16

by Whitney Sanderson, Ruth Sanderson (Illustrator)

For all lovers of horses and history! In the latest book in the Horse Diaries series, meet Penny, a blue-eyed palomino paint mare who grows up in the Wild West of California during the Gold Rush!CALIFORNIA, 1850. Penny is a blue-eyed palomino paint mare with a taste for adventure! She and a boy named Jesse search for gold in the hills of Northern California. After striking it rich and then losing everything, Jesse and Penny join the Pony Express. The job is a tough one, but Penny loves a challenge! Here is Penny's story . . . in her own words.Love horses and history? Don't miss the stories of Elska, Bell's Star, Calvino, Lily, and more in the Horse Diaries series!

Genres: Horses, Middle Grade, Childrens

154 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 30, 2019

About the author

Whitney Sanderson grew up riding horses as a member of a 4-H club and competing in local jumping and dressage shows. She has written several books in the Horse Diaries chapter book series. She is also the author of Horse Rescue: Treasure, based on her time volunteering at an equine rescue farm. She lives in Massachusetts.

(source: Amazon)

Reviews

[June Jacobs · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a middle-grade reader, I adored horse stories. Some of my favorites were by famed author Marguerite Henry: Misty of Chincoteague; Stormy: Misty's Foal; Brighty of the Grand Canyon; and King of the Wind. When I saw this book, Penny, which combines my love of California history with a story about a horse, I was sold.

This book covers many years and many events in California's history. The narrator of the story is a Palomino mare owned by the main character, Jesse, and his grandfather, Buckeye Jack. The story opens in 1853 when the three of them arrive in the Sierra Nevada foothills after they split off from their wagon train. Jesse is a nine-year-old orphan whose parents died of cholera on the wagon train trail a few months ago.

At this point in the story, the horse has no name. Buckeye Jack encourages Jesse to choose a name for their new horse. Jesse tries out the names of Buttercup, Duchess, and Sunshine, but none of them sound right to him. Later on in the story Jesse christens the mare 'Penny' when she saves them from an undesirable situation.

Jesse and Buckeye Jack work in the gold fields and are swindled by the merchants selling supplies and by a gambler who comes into their camp one evening to play cards with the grandfather. Unfortunately, Buckeye Jack loses the mare in a card game. Jesse is understandably upset, but things work out in the end.

Penny makes her way back to the two gold miners. Jesse's historical adventures continue when he joins the Pony Express in 1860 at age sixteen. This part of the book was filled with action and was really fun to read.

When the Pony Express closes in late 1861, Jesse and Penny join the railroad and work laying track for the Transcontinental Railroad over the Sierra Nevada mountains. The author's description of the back-breaking work and rough working conditions for men and their horses is a real eye-opener.

Once the railroad is completed, Jesse moves back to California and opens his own business driving passengers from the railroad station to their lodgings in black carriage. Of course, his trusty side-kick, Penny, is the one pulling the carriage.

Jesse is now an adult and the rest of the story is about his marriage and eventual life as a father to two middle-grade children of his own. Jesse and his family live in Omaha, Nebraska, his wife's hometown. Penny is the family horse and enjoys her job as the transporter in charge of carrying the children to school each day.

But wait! There is one more adventure in store for Jesse, his family, and Penny. This adventure involves 'Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show' featuring Annie Oakley and Buffalo Bill Cody. This final section of the book is great fun and will delight readers of all ages.

The Appendix is thorough and includes detailed information about the American Paint Horse {Penny}, The California Gold Rush, The Pony Express, and Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show.

I studied California history in grade school, high school, and college. I still enjoy visiting history museums and historical sites throughout the Northern California region. I found the author's depiction of life in California during the above time period to be accurate and realistic.

Highly-recommended for readers of all ages who are fans of California history, horse fiction, historical fiction, Gold Rush history, Pony Express history, Wild West history, and historical adventures.

I borrowed this book from the local public library.

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[Autumn Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not a bad book by any means! I quite loved this story and I'd like to read some of the oyher books in this collection. Strangely enough this was the only one my library had so I'm not sure where I'll find the others but we shall see. Penny is a lovable horse and while she has her unlucky moments her luck is much greater than all the bad that came her way. I give this a 4/5 because sometimes the pacing felt a little too slow or a little fast but not too bad. But also I give it a 4 because I personally wish there was less talk of the humans in the story, sure they are important to Penny and the plot but I guess I just prefer less human interaction lol.
Oh and I wanted to mention I really love that the illustrator is the mother of the author!! When I found that out it made me very happy.

[Suzanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although this story is just as well written and illustrated as the others in the series, for some reason I don’t like it as much. I think it’s because it is not hard to perceive how difficult this particular life at this time was for the horses in the story: Penny being lost in a gambling bet (I wanted to slap the grandfather for that), the crazy hard riding conditions of the Pony Express, and Penny’s grueling life working to build the railroad.

[Gerri Leen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another wonderful outing from this series of books. I found this one a little less emotionally touching than most, but it was full of so much wonderful information and action that it made up for it. I love these books.

[Ms. Yingling · Rating 3 out of 5]

Library copy

Love the details of the Pony Express. It always surprises me that this was such a short lived period in time, and I'd be interested to see a perspective on this that shows how the Express impacted Native populations.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

See the first book in the series for a full review.

[Richard Garner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun Story

Cute story for young at heart, lovers of the old west, horses and animals of all kinds , oh yes and a good ending.

[Ev Rennich · Rating 5 out of 5]

We all loved it!

[Lily Scarlet · Rating 3 out of 5]

Palomino Paints always steal my heart.
Not to mention my favorite childhood horse name was used!!
This is a fun gold rush tale.

[Hallie Jensen · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a really slow book. And I feel like the end should have had more to it. It was pretty hard to Finnish also