Author:Bonnie Bryant-Hiller
Stevie is excited about a great new sport – polocrosse. When she learns that the Horse Wise Pony Club will be playing against her boyfriend’s team, she’s thrilled. Now she’ll finally have the chance to show him what a good rider she is! Her best friends, Carole and Lisa, are enthusiastic about anything to do with horses, but they don’t share Stevie’s fierce drive to win. Carole would rather spend time with her new friend Marie, who was injured in an accident. Marie needs help, and Carole knows that horses are the answer. Is she can interest Marie in riding again, she’ll be on the road to recovery.
When Stevie sprains her ankle, her determination is as strong as ever. Carole and Lisa thought she was a terror as a player, but they can’t believe what she’s like as a coach! Her competitive spirit is starting to threaten their friendship. What will it take to get the Saddle Club team spirit back again?
Wise, witty . . . fantastic
—— Financial TimesHaunting and compelling, with characters you really care for
—— Vanessa Lewis , The BooksellerReading aloud should be a pleasurable experience for both the reader and the listener and this book will do so much to promote this. I feel sure that it will become a well-thumbed family favourite and will work brilliantly in schools and libraries too. It would also make a lovely gift. Highly recommended.
—— The BookbagThis new anthology brings together a wide range of poetry and prose ideal for reading aloud with children. With a foreword by former Children's Laureate Michael Morpurgo, it incorporates a lively and diverse selection of both well-known and well-loved favourites, and less familiar material which may be new to young readers...Each piece has been selected by the Reader Organisation, a UK charity for reading and health, with the aim of capturing children's interest and imagination. Ideal for classroom use as well as bedtime reading, this is a delightfully varied and enjoyable collection.
—— Booktrust websiteAs a present for anyone who can find a child to read to it is A VERY GOOD IDEA. This satisfyingly thick anthology of poems and stories contains more than 60 choices of good stuff...as an added help, a reading time is given for extracts from longer stories.
—— Newbury Weekly NewsThe aim isn’t merely to entertain at bedtime but to entice children to explore the world of fiction and broaden the scope of their reading. If the book encourages even one person to discover the work of Russell Hoban, say, or Joan Aiken, or Jack London, then it will have performed a great service. But it is likely to encourage many. A splendid idea, admirably executed.
—— The Financial TimesMany years down the line, memories of those happy shared times in which lessons are disguised as pure enjoyment for both reader and listener will be recalled as golden days.
—— Newbury Weekly NewsAs in the first volume there are plenty of heart-stopping moments and a generous dollop of gore, but nothing most teens and confident readers can't handle: in fact, the problem will be to persuade them to put the book down. In short, it's both gross and engrossing!
—— The BookbagThe Whispering Skull frees Stroud to let his flair for spectacle run riot, resulting in several deftly constructed set-pieces far more akin to true horror than the ghost house antics of the first book.
—— StarburstAs in the first instalment, Stroud manages to perfectly balance grisly encounters with gleefully sarcastic humour.
—— Independent Children's blogThis is quality reading for young and old. Bring on those ghosts, but first hand me my rapier!
—— Ann Giles, BookwitchThere's a dark, macabre air to these books that Stroud handles with an expert touch, perfectly balancing the supernatural with witty repartee and serpentine plots (no one could ever accuse Stroud of dumbing down). After The Screaming Staircase, our trio is back with a second instalment to sort out a seriously creepy talking skull trapped inside a glass jar. Ghost-busting has never been more engrossing.
—— Dad.info BlogThe spine-tingling performance of Lyons’ narration will keep listeners on the edge of their seat.
—— YALSA committee