Selah's Stolen Dream by Susan Count - Book Tour + Giveaway
This is my stop during the book blitz for Selah's Stolen Dream by Susan Count. This book blitz is organized by Lola's Blog Tours. The book blitz runs from 18 till 31 March. See the tour schedule here.
Selah's Stolen Dream (Dream Horse Adventures #4)
By Susan Count
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Age category: Middle Grade
Release Date: 1 March, 2020
Blurb:One girl’s victory is another’s tragic defeat.Thirteen-year-old Selah’s perfect life unravels when her beloved horse is stolen. Then ten-year-old Emma buys the dream of a lifetime at a horse auction. When she learns the horse was stolen, even removing her hearing aid won’t drown out the voice telling her to make it right.But two girls can’t divide the horse they both adore. So will life surprise them with an answered prayer?
You can find Selah's Stolen Dream on Goodreads
You can buy Selah's Stolen Dream here:
- Amazon
Earlier books in the series:
Mary's Song is only 99 cents at the moment. This story is completely independent of the three Selah books. It is the story of Selah's grandmother.
EXCERPT
Ten-year-old Emma sat astride the couch arm and cantered in sync with a girl, even younger than her, in a video. The pink ribbons in the girl’s brown braids flapped behind her. The gray pony’s legs fired like an engine in overdrive. At the approach of each jump, the girl thumped her boots on the pony’s side and swatted it with a crop.
Ten-year-old Emma sat astride the couch arm and cantered in sync with a girl, even younger than her, in a video. The pink ribbons in the girl’s brown braids flapped behind her. The gray pony’s legs fired like an engine in overdrive. At the approach of each jump, the girl thumped her boots on the pony’s side and swatted it with a crop.
Her hands clinging to pretend reins
guiding her imaginary mount expertly through the Speed Jumping event. She
leaned into the turns and squared her pony to the jump. Gauging the canter
strides to take off, she squeezed with her knees and balanced over her mount’s
withers. With a long moment of suspension, her imagination soared over the
jump. Clear! She calculated the angle to the next jump. As the video pair
nailed the last combination, she patted the couch jubilantly, praising her
pony.
Mom tapped her shoulder. “Come on.
We’ll be late for your lesson.” She switched off the TV.
Her parents always asked her to use her
words, but she thought her voice sounded strange. Emma signed whenever she
could get away with it. “I get so into watching her ride that I forget
everything else.” Her own riding lessons were too quiet, too slow, and too
safe. They never had the excitement and energy of the girl in the video. But
then the girl with the flying braids wasn’t deaf.
Completely deaf in one ear, she
couldn’t remember a time when she didn’t need a hearing aid in the other ear.
Her parents told her she didn’t lose her hearing until the year she started
kindergarten. She had it, and she lost it. And the specialists couldn’t tell
them why.
She slipped on her riding boots,
grabbed her safety vest and helmet, and flew.
Mom held out her jacket. “Bundle up. I
don’t want you catching cold.” “Yesterday, it was 72.” As she stepped outside,
Emma shivered. “Today, it’s 49. That’s Texas. We never know what to wear.” As
the February winds swirled the trees, a feed store delivery
truck sputtered and rumbled outside the
arena making it impossible for her to hear. While the hearing aid worked okay
in small rooms, she found it useless outside. Even a slight breeze put so much
static in her ear she had to turn it off. Her parents were saving to get her a
higher quality one. Even though it was a pain, she wished they’d help her save
for a horse of her own instead. But one dime at a time, she’d do it. She wasn’t
complaining. Not really. Because she had Pony-Boy.
She hung around the pony farm down the
road until Mrs. Holmes recognized her as a horse lover and knew Emma wasn’t
going away. Mrs. Holmes graciously offered to give her a riding lesson on the
old pony her college-age daughter had outgrown.
A big chalkboard hung in the center of
the arena, attached to two jump standards. As she circled the arena at a trot
to warm up Pony-Boy, she watched for Mrs. Holmes to write instructions on the
board. Things like “relax your calf muscles” and “sink deeper into the
stirrups”.
For safety, Mom positioned herself at
one end of the arena. Though Brianna didn’t know how to sign or anything about
horses, Mom insisted Emma’s sister take her position at the opposite end of the
arena. They would signal if there were any urgent instructions. Like really,
Mom? What could happen on Pony-Boy?
Any horseback riding scared Mom, but
jumping even little crossrails terrified her. The only reason she got to ride
was because Dad insisted she do things hearing kids did. To get Mom to agree,
she had to wear an ugly, bulky safety vest as if she were competing in
upper-level, Cross-Country eventing. The helmet was strapped on so tightly she
could hardly swallow. She was mostly deaf, but not helpless.
About the Author:
How many twists and turns can one person take before they figure out what they were born to do? Susan Count’s degree is in Applied Science–nothing in that prepared her to write novels for children. But one day, she began to write with no preconceived ideas. No one could have been more astounded than she was when it turned into a middle grade equine series. As a member of Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, American Christian Fiction Writers, and Texas Association of Authors, she takes the craft of writing seriously and considers revision to be her super-power.
She writes at an antique secretary desk that occupies a glass room with a forest view. Fittingly, it once belonged to the same wise grandmother who introduced Susan to the love of reading via Walter Farley’s horse books. That desk has secret compartments which hold memories, mysteries and story ideas.
Susan is a lifelong equestrian and is owned by a Rocky Mountain Horse. She is convinced that the only thing more delightful than riding the forest trails might be writing horse adventure stories. She invites you to saddle up and ride along.
You can find and contact Susan here:
- Website
- Facebook
- Twitter
- Amazon
Giveaway
There is a tour wide giveaway for the book blitz of Selah’s Stolen Dream. One winner will win a $25 Amazon gift card!
For a chance to win, enter the rafflecopter below:
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