Once Upon a Horse

Following in the hoofprints of “The Flying Horse”, this second title in the “Once Upon a Horse” series is inspired by the true story of the first Black female jockey, Cheryl White, who raced to the finish line on her horse, Jetolara 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. Together girl and horse make history and show everyone that once you learn to love yourself, the world is yours.

From award-nominated New York Times reporter Sarah Maslin Nir, the author of the memoir “Horse Crazy: The Story of a Woman in Love with an Animal,” comes the third book in her “Once Upon a Horse” series of middle-grade novels inspired by real horses and the people who love them-illustrated by Laylie Frazier Lights... Camera... Giddyap? Billy is a Norwegian Fjord horse, short as horses go, but with the natural star power of a Hollywood celebrity. Lori Allegra is a horse-loving seventh grader, as awkward as she is tall for her age, who finds refuge from her shyness on her family farm with her best friend: Billy, the Fjord. Their peace is shattered when Billy is "discovered" by Marlowe Narang, superstar kid actor, and given the opportunity of a horsey lifetime-to star in a film! And with that, the chance for Lori and her mom to save their struggling stables. Lori tearfully agrees to send her horse to a new life across the country on the set of Marlowe's newest Hollywood production, a Western set in a real ghost town. But Billy's star turn is cut short when a mountain lion stalks the desert set and sends him fleeing into the Mojave. When word gets back to Lori, she runs away too, to find her Billy! Lost in the endless desert, as horse and girl make their way to each other, Lori and Billy both find they are not alone. Joined in their search by a cast of characters including wild donkeys, a sassy teenage cowgirl, a plucky service dog, and even the world's biggest kid actor himself, “The Star Horse” is a story about finding your herd-human and horse, and along the way, finding your voice.