PhoenixReview posted April 10 2026.
Dial Books for Young Readers, 2026. 162 pages.
Review written April 10, 2026, from a library book.
Starred Review
Hooray! A new book from Kimberly Brubaker Bradley! And this one says it's Book 1 of the Ride On series - so there will be more!
This book features Harper, a girl in middle school, whose life has just blown up. Harper's dad cheated on her mother with Harper's best friend Cat's mother - and Harper found that out from gossip at school the morning after her parents told her they were getting divorced.
Harper and her mother decide to get out of town, so they move to a small house on the property of a barn and riding school. Cat was scared of horses, so Harper had always avoided them, too, out of solidarity. But one day a kill truck stops at the barn and abandons a dying horse in the yard. Harper becomes determined to save him. She names him Phoenix because he's going to rise from the ashes.
But the adults aren't so sure and keep warning Harper that it will be tough for him to make it. But Harper starts working around the barn, taking lessons, and learning about horses, determined to save her horse.
Meanwhile, she's got new friends to make at the stables and at her new school. And sometime, she's going to have to face her dad. And Cat.
This book is nice and short, but tells a good story in that time. Yes, we're going to want to find out more in the next book of the series, but this was a fantastic way to meet Harper and her rescued horse. I learned plenty about riding and horses and even about how to treat an almost-starved horse. (Don't let them eat all they want.) Horse-loving kids like I once was are going to be delighted with this series.