Wild Horse Summer

About the Book

Josephine Barkley grows up on a small farm in Utah thinking life would be perfect if she had one more thing: a pony to take to the fair. But it’s the Great Depression, and money is tight even for her hardworking family. Still, she can’t stop daydreaming about winning a blue ribbon and showing up her classmate Bobby, who has been teasing her about her old and swaybacked horse, Marybel. The two even come to blows. As Jo devises ways to get a pony, help comes from an unexpected place: Bobby offers to help her find the perfect horse. First, they chase a wild horse, but it gets away. Then they raise a runt pig to trade for a pony, but it’s killed by a pack of dogs. They even catch gophers before realizing their penny-a-tail bounty will never buy a horse. When Grandpa offers Jo a summer job to earn one of his ponies, she thinks her problem is solved. But when something unexpected happens, she must decide if family is more important than her pony.

About the Author

Neva Andrews grew up on a small farm in Utah during the Great Depression, and she wrote several articles about her experiences with horses before turning to fiction. Wild Horse Summer is her first novel. She lives in Minnesota with her daughter and son-in-law.