Loving Spirit

Book excerpt: A young girl begins a new life in the English countryside and discovers a remarkable horse After her parents are killed in a car accident, Ellie leaves the rolling hills of New Zealand behind to live in England with her uncle, who is as cold and gray as the country she now must call home. A hard-eyed horse breeder, he hates weakness in all animals, whether they have four legs or two. Although Ellie loves horses, she can’t stand being ordered around by her uncle and the coldhearted Luke. Even the kind words of her cousin Joe aren’t enough to make her feel at home—until she meets a horse named Spirit. Ellie sees the skinny gray gelding at a sale, and spends the last of her insurance money to save his life. She can tell Spirit is special, but she has no idea that this horse will unlock a marvelous power in her. The two soon form a friendship the likes of which the world has never seen. Winner of the 2012 Lincolnshire Young People’s Book Award.