First Horse

Cheryl loves horses. She’s been studying thoroughbreds at her family’s horse racing stables since she was old enough to ride on the shoulders of her father, a famous horse trainer. Cheryl wants to be a jockey. One problem—she is a girl, and there has never been a Black female jockey in history! Jetolara is a young thoroughbred finding his place in the herd. When Cheryl literally falls onto his back, and Jeto sprints off across the pasture, Cheryl discovers that she doesn’t just want to be a jockey, she is a jockey—and she and Jeto were born to race.

Lis Hartel became paralyzed after contracting polio in 1944. Her dreams of riding horses and competing in the sport of dressage were shattered. After months in the hospital, doctors told her she'd never ride again. Lis tried anyway. But how do you stay on a horse without using your legs? How do you give the subtle cues needed in dressage with limited mobility? With hard work—and an unlikely horse named Jubilee!

Ten-year-old Keely Rosalie Tucker is a modern-day knight with no armor. Constantly bullied by a neighbor boy, Keely struggles to find her place in the world in which she is comforted only by the stories her Gramms has told her about enchanted, faraway places, where unicorns, fairies, and angels protect children from life's everyday pains and dangers. Now all Keely has to do is figure out how to call them to help her.

Shelby Simone is a horse-crazy kid living in the city with her parents. Despite having the best friends ever at the exclusive Metro School for Girls, she can’t help but feel something is missing from her life. When her parents break the news to her that they’re moving to a nearby rural community, Shelby is devastated… until her parents promise she can take riding lessons at Old Quarry Lake Farms, one of the best-known riding stables in the state! Shelby only has a month to say goodbye to city life and hello to a new world that includes horses.

Barney is a street peddler who sells fruits and vegetables while dispensing kindness and horseback rides to the children on his route...