Hoofbeats: Silence and Lily

by Kathleen Duey

The year is 1773, and the tensions between the colonists and the British are heating up. For ten-year-old Silence, the tensions at home are running high as well. All Silence wants is a chance to call Lily—a beautiful snowwhite mare—her own. But Silence’s father does not think it fitting for a young girl to spend so much time out riding and being reckless. In the days leading up to the Boston Tea Party, Silence learns that someone has been taking Lily out to secret meetings under the cover of darkness. If she doesn’t do something drastic, she may lose Lily forever.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Horses, Fiction, Middle Grade

176 pages, Hardcover

First published September 6, 2007

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

[Kelsey]

I've been reading a lot of young readers book that have to do with horses, and I've read some crappy books. This one surprised me, however. There wasn't a whole lot of the story that had to do with the horse, but as a story that takes places in pre-revolutionary Boston, it was a really interesting, entertaining, and worthwhile story. I would most definitely recommend this book.

[Nina Gliza]

✨4.5/5✨

The prose was masterfully written and it hooked me right from the first chapter. Seeing as I am a history buff, it really was a ride reading this (no pun intended, of course). This story was beautiful, although the ending was a just a tad anticlimactic in my opinion. But overall, it is good and I definitely recommend!

[M]

An exciting story about Silence, a courageous colonial girl in Boston, who rides on a night mission to save her brother, her horse Lily, and the local Patriot meeting right before the American Revolution breaks out.

[Bookworm]

Mostly good!

Trigger warning: lots of slavery

[Faith]

Silence loves riding her horse Lily, but her mother has her do house work all the time. She tries asking to go ride Lily, but her mother says, "Silence!" Her name is also a command.

Reasons I like this book-

Reason 1- The book is historical fiction taking place in 1773. Silence's family are loyalists to the king, but Samuel, Silence's brother, is not a loyalist.

Reason 2- The book also tells about a girl's life in the later 1700s. A girl was taught little reading and girls usually did housework. Samuel taught Silence to read books and not just short poems.

Reason 3- It was a good book to read curled up on the couch.

[Jane]

She's a good writer, this wasn't as good as the Lara ones but why doesn't she finish the Skin Hunger series???