The New Class

Chestnut Hill #1

by Lauren Brooke

From the author of the popular Heartland books comes a smart, sassy series set at an exclusive, all-girls boarding school in Virginia, where horses--and status--mean everything.

Welcome to Chestnut Hill, a prestigious boarding school with a rich tradition of academics, horses, and rivalry. This year, five girls from different backgrounds will challenge the Chestnut Hill stereotype. There's witty, spunky Dylan; secretive Malory; western tomboy Lani; Honey, the soft-spoken Brit; and polished New Yorker Razina. None is prepared for the social or riding rigors, and they all doubt they will fit in -- certainly not if queen bee Lynsey and her clique have any say. But if this unlikely fivesome can band together, they may prove themselves the true stars of Chestnut Hill.

Genres: Horses, Young Adult, Childrens, Middle Grade, Fiction, Animals, Boarding School

212 pages, Hardcover

First published August 1, 2005

About the author

Lauren Brooke grew up in a ranch in Virginia and now lives in Leicestershire, England. Her husband is a veterinarian who specializes in horses. Her books have been published by Scholastic since Mid-2000, starting with the first book of the Heartland book series. The first book of her popular Chestnut Hill series was published in 2005.

According to an interview on scholastics' website, Lauren Brooke has been riding since before she could walk. She also said she competes in a few local-level horse shows and events.

There may be some other people in books and movies named Lauren Brooke:
Amazon lists the author of "Book of spiritual regeneration" (1995) as Lauren Brooke.
IMDB.com has a record for an Actress named Lauren Brooke. Her only movie is "Wiseguys vs. Zombies" (2003) as Goat Man's Wife.

Reviews

[Virág · Rating 3 out of 5]

Chestnut Hill is the new series from the author of Heartland. There's only half a dozen books, but I read and liked them all. I also liked that the girls were sixth graders like I was when I read these books, haha. The only weird thing is that there seemed to be a big deal about dating between some of the characters, and they were like, 11 or 12. That was a bit unnecessary - they're so young, why should they be worried about getting boyfriends?
Anyway, pretty good horse series for ages 9-12.

[Mehsi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have found a new Boarding School + Horses series to read!


Yay! I finally got this book, it was a trial to get it (first Amazon didn’t have it the regular way, then I had to get it from their marketplace, and finally after a few weeks I got the book!). I guess the other books will also be hell to get, this edition (the one with the ribbon) is the only one that is available at all, and only at the marketplace. Oh well, it will be a fun quest.

Let me get started on what I thought of the book. I was really interested in the whole boarding school + horses part. I love the Canterwood Crest series, and I was really looking for a new series now that I am almost done with that one. I think I have found it with this one. It has several elements that I also saw in Canterwood Crest (the dare, the who can you trust, how Dylan acts at times), that is also a reason why I gave less points for this book, at times I felt like I was reading CC. And yes, I know that CC is the one who came after this one in publication, but I did read CC before this one, and that is why. I am sure if I had read this series first and then CC I would have removed points as well.

This book is all about Dylan (it seems each book switches POV, the next book is about Malory, and it isn’t until book 5 that we get Dylan again). I have to say I really liked Dylan, though I didn’t always like her attitude. I found her a bit snobbish and annoying. At times I just wish she had spoken instead of keeping silent. Other times I wonder if she is intentionally saying those cruel words or if she is doing it accidental.
But most of the time she was an interesting girl, hardworking, dedicated to what she loves, a girl who loves friendship, a girl you can trust, a girl who will bring happiness to a party. She had a fun kind of humour, though I think that most girls didn’t appreciate it at all times.
I loved her when she was with her pony Morello, she really has a connection with him and I was just awwwing every time they bonded and did lessons.

Then we have a whole bunch of side-characters, including a few I didn’t like all the time. I am not entirely sure what I think of Lynsey, at times she seems the mean queen, with Patience as her sidekick, but at other times she also shows a different, kinder, side. I hope we will see more of her, maybe learn a bit more about her in the later books. Maybe she is just like Heather in the CC books, I do hope for that at least.
Malory. Meh, she was so-so. I am getting kind of pissy though at characters who expect people to just know that something is bothering them, or that they are somewhere for a reason. Hello!!! People are still not telepathic. If you have something on your mind, if something bothers you, tell them! Don’t go boohoohooing when they get angry or when someone speaks their mind on how you do stuff. I can totally imagine why people would react like they did in this book.
Lani and Honey were my top side-characters in this one. I really loved both of them, and I hope that we will see more of them in the next books when they will be getting the spotlight.

I didn’t always like Dylan’s aunt, I found her a bit too strict and a bit too much towards Dylan (if she did it towards everyone else, I wouldn’t have minded, but this just stood out, it even stood out so much the others noticed).

The horses, the lessons, the barn, everything about that was fantastic, I could just imagine myself walking around there and enjoying a relaxing time. I really loved the descriptions of all the horses/ponies, I still have to look up some terms, but in general I know what all the various horse-related thing means.

The boarding school setting? I loved it, it is one of my favourite settings in a book and Lauren Brooke did a great job on describing life there.

All in all, I will be sure to get the other books (if I can find them), and I would recommend this book to everyone who likes horses or boarding school settings.

Review first posted at http://twirlingbookprincess.com/

[Joanna Thurman-Baker]

No review, just vibes

Actually I will review it, but first it needs a backstory.

When I was a little year 7 in my first week at big school, I was so excited that it had a library. I would spend my lunch time there as I hadn’t yet made any friends, and I checked out this book as I liked the pink cover with a pony on. I would read it in form time and wish I was at Chesnut Hill, where I could look out of the classroom window and see ponies in the field. I vividly remember the midnight jumping scene and not much else, as I don’t believe I ever actually finished it. I think after my first week at big school, I gained friends and ditched the book as I was too embarrassed to be seen reading a pink covered pony book. I pretty much stopped reading after this until I was about 16 when I picked up the hunger games, then stopped again until I was 19/20 when I picked up ACOTAR.
Anyway, I am very glad that I re-found this book and have finally finished it, over a decade and a half later. Now I have no embarrassment about reading a pink covered pony book, and I’m very proud of myself for that.

I think what I am trying to get at is that books like these hold so much more than their words - they help shape who you become. And you can’t really put a rating on that.

[nathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

i read this series when i was younger and loved it so i decided to read it again and honestly i'm loving it all over again.

[Grace · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dylan is sent to this private school were you mainly learn about horses and Dylan has been dreaming to go. Her aunt works there. Dylan makes friends with some girls but she makes bad delicious and decides to play truth or dare and gets dared to go outside at night and ride her horse, which leads to her getting in major trouble. She gets a week of afternoon and evening detentions and 2 weeks of not being able to ride. Which would only give her a week to prepare for the junior jumping team tryouts. After the 2 weeks are over she starts to prepare right away. She try's out and lands a spot on the junior jumping team.
I thought the novel was really good and interesting I personally thought that there was a plot twist around the middle of the book.
I choose this book because I personally love horses and I have a horse of my own at my grandmas and I defiantly understood the book more since I know how to ride.
I would recommend this book to another student because I know some of my friends also like horses and would really get into this book.
My favorite part of the book was when she was trying out for the jumping team because the way the author explained everything was really good because it told not only her score it to,d everyone's score and how they did during tryouts, and it just made you wanna keep reading so you could find out who made it on the team and who didn't.
The main character changed throughout the story as at first she acted all happy to be there and trying to fit in, and around the middle she had more rough times she had ran into problems of trying to fit in and got into couple fights with people, and in the end she found out who was her real friends and trying her best at riding.
The part of the book that made me most puzzled was when she got in trouble for riding at night, I was wondering why she didn't tell on anyone else and tell about truth or dare, and who had told on her that she was outside.
This book does have sequels and I will defiantly be reading more, I personally think she will watch her back more and focus more on riding and her horse. I think that because I think she will want to stay out of the drama and just do what she is there for and that is ride and learn.
I found it surprising that Dylan's turned on her friend from the beginning for Lindsey the popular one.
I learned that I should think before I do things like how Dylan did at night with her horse.
I have one lingering question and that is why did Dylan take all the blame for what she did and didn't tell on Lyndsey or any of the other girls?
I think the author wrote this book to not only entertain but to also teach about horses and teach lessons that you might run into in the future.

[Molly · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked this book the first time around, but rereading it after finding it in the back of my closet, Dylan is actually pretty freaking awful and self-righteous. And the writing is pretty weak. At one point the character literally lists everyone she's met and their personalities because the author isn't sure we got it from their interactions. Not sure why I liked it when I first found it. Figured I'd give it a last glance before I chucked it in the donate bin, and was so surprised by my change of opinion that I ended up coming here 7 years later to edit my review.

(I should add that it's the middle of the night right now and I have nothing at all to do.)

[Nina · Rating 1 out of 5]

Hehe... I read this book in 3rd grade and used to love it and I recently happened apon it and read it, and realized how stupid and unrealistic these books are.... however it brought back some third grade memories.....=]

[char · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading this series always feels like coming home. I come from a long line of horse fanatics, so it's no surprise that I spent the majority of my childhood in the saddle. And whenever I wasn't riding, I was grooming horses or cuddling horses or mucking the stables. And whenever I wasn't doing that, I was reading one horse book after the other.

Revisiting these books now, as an adult and after having had to say good-bye to my own pony last year, is the ultimate form of self care.

PLOT: 5 / 5

The first book in the Chestnut Hill series is relatively short, but it has a good plot nonetheless. I loved the little bits of drama, which felt very realistic considering these are pre-pubescent girls in a boarding school. I loved the way everything came together and how the main focus of the storyline were the horses and the school's different tournaments. I simply flew through this book.

CHARACTERS: 4 / 5

This book follows Dana Walsh, horse enthusiast and new alumni at Chestnut Hill. Dana is a bit on the wild side, a little untamed, a lot sassy, courageous and short-tempered and very, very funny. I would have loved to have a friend like her when I was younger because you just know there's never a boring moment with her around.

Of course there's also the obligatory mean girl, but Laura is well-written enough that it doesn't seem cartoonish. She's mean and bratty, but she can back it up with lots of talent and hard work, too.

I also loved every single one of the other girls we were introduced to, Honey and Kathy and Samantha. While they were all described in brevity, I felt like they were distinguished from one another and all had their own characteristics.

Overall, these characters were well-rounded.

WORLD BUILDING: 5 / 5

There's not much to say about this. I loved Chestnut Hill so much when I was younger, and I still do. Setting a prestigious all girls' boarding school with an outstanding equestrian program in Virginia was a smart choice on Lauren Brooke's part, and she has delivered an outstanding setting. Every single location in the book felt real and tangible and made me yearn to be right where the girls were.

This book is simply perfect to dream your life away.

WRITING STYLE: 4 / 5

Brooke's style is fun and easy to read. I liked that you can really tell that she knows a lot about horses, yet the sentences weren't exactly riddled with language only riders can understand. This book is exceptionally easy to read.

DIVERSITY: 2 / 5

There is no tangible diversity except for Wei Lin, the one Asian side-character, who doesn't play a particularly important role.

One topic that is grazed is elitism and class-distinction, since some of the characters are in the habit of bullying those with less money and less distinguished backgrounds. This is often addressed and called out, though I do hope that it will be more of a topic in future novels.

OVERALL RATING: 4 / 5

These books are my comfort reads, and I'm delighted to find that they don't contain any shitty messages or problematic contents. They are the middle-school books I wish there were more of.

[Cecilia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the book, but I have reasons why it's only 4 stars.
First, why are all these 7th graders so mature? They're wearing blush and Gucci dresses!!

Secondly, I didn't like how there had to be a girl who called everyone by their last name. I feel like the author tries to differ her characters way too much.

Last, Dylan was a huge brat! The world doesn't revolve around you, Dylan! She thinks everyone is so rude and is always rolling her eyes. Not cool. (I am looking forward to reading the next one, though!)

All in all, it was a great book with some flaws, but that's okay. 4 stars for The New Class (Chestnut Hill, #1) by Lauren Brooke!

[Mili · Rating 4 out of 5]

RTC

[Darlene Farley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good

[Claire · Rating 3 out of 5]

I feel like tearing something apart, so Lauren Brooke, watch out. You may want to avert your eyes. I would primarily like to state that I have never been enamored with the Heartland series, but I had hoped for more from this. The unwavering admiration for the heroine of Heartland the girls of this book have is shameful advertising of Brooke’s other series and is borderline religious in its devotion to the “alternative” methods central to the Heartland books. And since this girl is a vet student, everything she says is credible. But everything she vouches for is a little too Parelli-esque for me, and that is a serious deterrent. While reading, I was expecting this girl to tell me to purchase a DVD series detailing her methods for $200 after her presentation. Plus $80 for a membership (renewed yearly at a discount price of $75). Don’t forget $50 for a book explaining the theory and containing glowing testimonies for the program. And you need all the equipment, so you must purchase a special stick priced at $35 that you could create for no charge by simply picking up a branch off the ground. But let’s stick to the point. This series is an older version of Canterwood Crest, and if you’ve read any of my other reviews, I both hate and adore that series. This series is achingly boring compared to Canterwood. It is also less thought out than Canterwood, a remarkable achievement, because I believe absolutely no forethought was put into Canterwood Crest Academy. But for some reason, JB’s scenario works. It’s not too outlandish (usually), and I find myself going along with it, laughing at some of the more extreme blunders. Chestnut Hill does not make me laugh. In fact, it does not provoke a single emotional reaction within me. I’m completely apathetic and often annoyed by everything these girls do and their bland, stereotypical storylines. I feel like JB manages to break stereotypes more than Brooke, and JB’s entire plot basis revolves around stereotypes. But I have to hand it to you, Lauren Brooke, you are not preaching at me like Lauraine Snelling. Wait, I take that back. You are preaching at me about T-touch and other alternative methods. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all about that stuff, but I have spent a fair amount of time in the world of veterinary medicine which has strengthened the streak of skepticism already engrained within me. My main problem with people who so actively subscribe to these alternative treatments is that they are so quick to believe EVERYTHING people tell them, even if it makes no sense. In the horse world, you really need to keep your wits about you and use common sense or you will get screwed over. You probably will get screwed over even if you do employ these preventative measures. That’s how the horse world works. By the way, I couldn’t remember the main character’s name probably because this book made so little of an impression on me and that is why I haven’t mentioned her by name to complain about her. Armed with my copy of this book, I have ascertained that the main character is Dylan Walsh, a rich (but not rich girl) who doesn’t have a horse (but regularly rides her aunt’s horse), who doesn’t want favoritism (but is annoyed by her aunt’s tough scrutiny), who is a very talented rider (but seems to know very little), and has far too much internal dialogue for someone narrating a book in third person. I will note that this book carries on the trend of the boarding school girls having some ridiculously outlandish names. Take Tanisha, or the intentionally spelled wrong Lynsey, or Felicity, or Honey, or Patience, or Wei Lin, or Razina, or whoever else because I’m sure there’s more. Now that we’re done with names, I’m going to admit that I don’t have the patience to actually review this book and bother commenting on anything else. Gotta love horsey boarding schools.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dylan is super excited about going to the Chestnut Hill boarding school, which has one of the best equestrian programs in the country. She's less excited that her aunt Ali just got hired as the riding instructor there - worried that the other girls will think she's getting special treatment. Unfortunately, it seems like Ali is being harder on her than on the other girls, like perfect (and rich and snotty) Lyndsey, and secretive scholarship student Malory. When Dylan decides to take a dare that gets her put on probation from riding, she learns who her real friends are.

There was a lot going on this book, because it's the first in the series. I felt like the characters were pretty realistic - even though Lyndsey was clearly the "mean girl" she was also able to be manipulative and fake nice, and while Malory was the "poor scholarship student" her reasons for not revealing anything about her personal life weren't all about money. Dylan had some spunk even though she was also kind of a rich girl, but more the kind of rich girl who didn't seem to realize that there are people who don't have money.

This didn't have quite as much heart as the Heartland series - it's just your basic middle-grade horse series, essentially just like the Riding Academy series by Alison Hart. Unfortunately the pop-culture references also seemed a bit dated (although it was written 10 years ago).

[Sally · Rating 2 out of 5]

Picked this up at an op-shop because it was 2 books for $1... that was about the extent of my reasoning ;) It was pretty decent actually, but way more fun if you're into horses because there's LOTS of horsey-speak! I was never into horses but I kind of liked The Saddle Club when I was younger. They're definitely the superior horse-group :P Though Dylan herself wasn't that bad, and I really liked Lani... Honey would have been cool if she hadn't had such an annoying nickname! As far as mean girls went, Lynsey was kind of wimpy. And Malory was just plain unlikable and self-righteous.

Of course it's all very predictable, except for Who Dobbed Dylan In. My money's on Patience, but I was a little peeved that we never actually found out! I don't want to have to read on!

A harmless way to pass the time, but I won't be hunting down more in the series. Although if they randomly fell into my lap I'd probably read them.

[Tieno · Rating 1 out of 5]

I feel really bad giving this book a 1-Star cause I feel like sometime ago I might have enjoyed it, but, just with where I am right now, I just couldn’t take it.

The characters are snobbish. This really irks me. Love complex characters with flaws, but this was not complexity. They were just straight up annoying. Too privileged and they know it. Under some circumstances, this works and builds great characters, but not in this book.

The plot seems a bit superficial. Not much to really dive into.

I didn’t really enjoy this. Not my cup of tea. Couldn’t vibe with the characters. Didn’t care too much about their problems.

Others might enjoy it because it might be a nice teenage girl story, but I just didn’t...

[Emily · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm literally grabbing any book off the shelf to read, since all the libraries are closed. At least this was lighthearted...

[Erya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ich bin eine totale Pferdenärrin und liebe die Heartland Reihe von Lauren Brooke. Deswegen bin ich auch nicht sonderlich überrascht, dass mir diese Reihe auch total gefällt. Dieses Buch hat sich total leicht ärgern und unfassbar schnell gelesen. Das was die Mädchen dort auch dem Internat erleben wäre früher mein absoluter Traum gewesen!
Ich hätte es mir gewünscht, dass Dana offener zu den Mädchen gewesen wäre da hätten sich auch diese kleinen Unverständnisses nicht gebildet.
Noch dazu liebe ich es wie Lauren Brooke ihre beiden Reihen sozusagen vermischt hat.

[Ellen Hamilton · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love horses, I love reading about them, I like reading about girls and how they get along at boarding schools. So, yes, I enjoyed reading this book very much, but I'm not sure if I want to read the next one.

Everything was good, the characters, the setting, the plot, the description, the language, but some things felt unexplained, so I felt like I was missing out on something. This book was just like a cup of tea that didn't turn out exactly to my taste if that makes any sense. :)

[Georgia White · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book as a child and wanted to reread it and I loved every second.

Super short and it’s obviously for children, but entertaining and nostalgic!

There are obviously some issues however a book doesn’t have to be perfect to be enjoyed!

[Rlygirl · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun read. I enjoyed the strong, spirited protagonist and her adventures starting and learning to fit in at Chestnut Hills riding academy.

[Adum Prince · Rating 4 out of 5]

Exceptional

[Scarlett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good for horse lovers

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

like a low key canterwoodcrest

[Annie Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

REALLY good

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

This author wrote the Heartland series, which I've been watching on Netflix. This series is also about horses and was fun to read.

[Karen J. Soencksen · Rating 5 out of 5]

The storyline kept me hooked and intrigued. Never a boring moment. The characters are awesome and add that much more to the book. I absolutely loved reading it and couldn't put it down!

[Shawnee Darlene · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars 🌟

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was pleasantly surprised to find that this book had more excitement than the Heartland books. Hopefully it continues throughout the series.

[Abigail Boateng]

Fabulous

[Grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pure nostalgia, just what I needed.