Dream Riders: Frankie


Book Description

Without a saddle or bridle, all that’s left is the truth. Dream Riders is an exciting new middle-grade series about horses, friendship and being true to yourself. Frankie’s dream is more like a nightmare when her new horse turns out to be Zen – a shaggy, disobedient clown of a pony, who will totally wreck her chances of fitting in at Pony Club in her new town. Zen is everything Frankie doesn’t want – until the magnetic horse whisperer Shannon shows her just what Zen could be if ridden freely. Natural horsemanship opens up a whole new way of riding and a whole new world of connection between Zen and Frankie. But Frankie’s dad is getting more depressed after her parents’ divorce, star rider and star mean girl Violet has it in for Frankie, and her best friend Kai is keeping a secret. Then Shannon announces she’s closing down her riding centre. Frankie’s got an idea that could save it … but can she and Zen rise to the challenge?




Dream Riders


Book Description

Without a saddle or bridle, all that's left is the truth. Dream Riders is an exciting new middle-grade series about horses, friendship and being true to yourself. Frankie's dream is more like a nightmare when her new horse turns out to be Zen - a shaggy, disobedient clown of a pony, who will totally wreck her chances of fitting in at Pony Club in her new town. Zen is everything Frankie doesn't want - until the magnetic horse whisperer Shannon shows her just what Zen could be if ridden freely. Natural horsemanship opens up a whole new way of riding and a whole new world of connection between Zen and Frankie. But Frankie's dad is getting more depressed after her parents' divorce, star rider and star mean girl Violet has it in for Frankie, and her best friend Kai is keeping a secret. Then Shannon announces she's closing down her riding centre. Frankie's got an idea that could save it ... but can she and Zen rise to the challenge?




Dream Riders


Book Description

Without a saddle or bridle, all that¿s left is the truth. Dream Riders is an exciting new middle-grade series about horses, friendship and being true to yourself. Living in a remote reach of The Pocket, twelve-year-old Storm is a hippy home-schooler Medievalist who knows almost nothing about the modern world. After taking out the archery prize at the local show, Storm spots the horse of her dreams, Morning Mist, on the jousting field. Inspired by Frankie¿s demonstration of natural horsemanship, the headstrong Storm immediately decides to join the Dream Riders and buy Morning Mist with her prize money. But she¿s told to forget it in no uncertain terms by the owner, Margery, a crotchety widower and champion marmalade-maker who has no time for hippies. As Storm begins learning natural horsemanship with the Dream Riders her extraordinary talent becomes clear. She could ride just about any horse ¿ but she¿s not prepared to give up on Morning Mist.




Dream Riders: Storm


Book Description

Without a saddle or bridle, all that’s left is the truth. Dream Riders is an exciting new middle-grade series about horses, friendship and being true to yourself. Living in a remote reach of The Pocket, twelve-year-old Storm is a hippy home-schooler Medievalist who knows almost nothing about the modern world. After taking out the archery prize at the local show, Storm spots the horse of her dreams, Morning Mist, on the jousting field. Inspired by Frankie’s demonstration of natural horsemanship, the headstrong Storm immediately decides to join the Dream Riders and buy Morning Mist with her prize money. But she’s told to forget it in no uncertain terms by the owner, Margery, a crotchety widower and champion marmalade-maker who has no time for hippies. As Storm begins learning natural horsemanship with the Dream Riders her extraordinary talent becomes clear. She could ride just about any horse – but she’s not prepared to give up on Morning Mist.




Dream Riders: Kai


Book Description

Without a saddle or bridle, all that’s left is the truth. Dream Riders is an exciting new middle-grade series about horses, friendship and being true to yourself. When Shannon (the horse whisperer) takes the Dream Riders on a trip to the Brumby Rescue Centre, to pick out a wild horse to train, Kai decides to go too. He's not that interested in horses, but he's best friends with Frankie, he really likes Violet, and it's the last weekend before he leaves. When they get to the Centre, though, Kai meets two brumbies who completely change the way he feels about horses, not to mention Frankie and Violet, and the place that he calls "home". He's been missing his old life in the city - especially his wise and funny older sister, Jindy - but now he's met Jarrah the gentle giant, and Monty, the scrappy grey, nothing will ever be the same again.




The Women and the Girls


Book Description

Laura Bloom has such a unique talent for modern historical fiction and this time it was a joy to be catapulted back to the 1970s. When I turned the last page I was so sad to say goodbye to her beautifully observed characters. A delight from start to finish!' Liane Moriarty Three friends. Three marriages left behind. Life begins in earnest. It's 1977, and warm, bohemian Libby - stay-at-home mother, genius entertainer and gifted cook - is lonely. When she meets Carol, who has recently emigrated from London with her controlling husband and is feeling adrift, and Anna, who loves her career but not her marriage, the women form an unexpected bond. Their husbands aren't happy about it, and neither are their daughters. Set against a backdrop of inner-city grunge and 70s glamour, far-out parties and ABBA songs, The Women and The Girls is a funny, questioning and moving novel about love, friendship, work, family, and freedom. The Women and the Girls explores the price, and the rewards, of family and friendship in the Age of Aquarius - at the dawning of the Age of Divorce. 'In this light hearted novel, Laura Bloom rejects the traditional rom-com, opting instead to follow a more contemporary journey of self-reckoning. Fans of Liane Moriarty will enjoy this friendship-driven romp.' - Books+Publishing




The Life and Deaths of Frankie D.


Book Description

A fantastical novel from award-winning author Colleen Nelson, about a hundred-year-old side show and a girl with no past. Frankie doesn’t trust easily. Not others and not even herself. Found in an alley when she was a child, she has no memory of who she is or why she was left there. Recurring dreams about a hundred-year-old carnival side show, a performer known as Alligator Girl, and a man named Monsieur Duval have an eerie familiarity to them. Frankie gets drawn deeper into Alligator Girl’s world and the secrets that keep the performers bound together. But a startling encounter with Monsieur Duval when she’s awake makes Frankie wonder what’s real and what’s in her head. As Frankie’s and Alligator Girl’s stories unfold, Frankie’s life takes a sharp turn. Are the dreams her way of working through her trauma or is there a more sinister plan at work? And if there is, does she have the strength to fight it?




The Cleanskin


Book Description

I needed someone I could trust. Someone others would trust. Someone with no criminal record. With no previous involvement. A cleanskin. Someone to come over, do the job, and go home ... Some days, even Halley can't find the person she once was. She's changed her name and no one – least of all her husband and son – knows of her past. No one except Aidan, who turns up one day in her small Australian town and shatters the façade she's built so carefully. Aidan is on a mission. But why is he still taking orders from his brother in an English jail – at the cost of his own happiness? When Aidan forces Halley to face what she's done, what they discover not only changes their understanding of what happened back then, it changes everything now. Laura Bloom deftly goes to the dark heart of The Troubles to explore the lingering damage wrought by sectarian conflict on communities, families and individuals. Based on real events, The Cleanskin is a story of intense human relationships with a cast of flawed and entirely believable characters.







Flying with Frankie


Book Description

I'm about to lose my wife and I don't want to lose my son, too. That depressing thought kept racing through my mind all day long, as my five year old boy, Frankie, and I were enjoying our first day ever at an amusement park in 1994. My marriage was shot and beyond repair; and I now faced many a parent's dread: what effect would the divorce have on my son, and how will I maintain any semblance of a normal rapport with him? The answer, miraculously was only hours away. Right before exiting the immense park for the evening, my rambunctious boy somehow lured me onto the thrill arena's big roller coaster for a ride. That solitary coaster journey hooked us up for life to the joys of gallivanting upon these flying machines, and for the next fifteen summers that's basically all we did. We ultimately shared over 300 days together in amusement parks, as we traveled 40,000 miles by car, plane, and sleeper-car train to every thrill park in the country that housed anything close to resembling a roller coaster. The divorce came soon enough, and inflicted its normal dose of hardship and despair. But it proved to be no match for the wonderful memories that accompanied all of our trips, and the steadfast bond that grew between us, merely in pursuit of our beloved joyrides. Flying With Frankie is our story. FLYINGWITHFRANKIE.COM