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Lauren St. John
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The One Dollar Horse: Book 1 Kindle Edition

by Lauren St John (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 615 ratings
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A thriller set in the equestrian world about making the impossible possible, about reaching the top on a one dollar horse.

Fifteen year old Casey Blue lives in East London's grimmest tower block and volunteers at a local riding school, but her dream is to win the world's greatest Three Day Event: the Badminton Horse Trials.

When she rescues a starving, half-wild horse, she's convinced that the impossible can be made possible. But she has reckoned without the consequences of her father's criminal record, or the distraction of a boy with melty, dark eyes, with whom she refuses to fall in love. Casey learns the hard way that no matter how high you jump, or how fast you gallop, you can never outrun the past.

A real life thriller that delves into the competitive and elite equestrian world from the 2011 BLUE PETER BOOK OF THE YEAR award-winning author.

Previous page
  1. Reading age
    12 - 15 years
  2. Book 1 of 3
    The One Dollar Horse
  3. Print length
    221 pages
  4. Language
    English
  5. Lexile measure
    930L
  6. Publisher
    Orion Children's Books
  7. Publication date
    March 1, 2012
  8. Page Flip
    Enabled
  9. Word Wise
    Enabled
  10. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
  11. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  12. ISBN-13
    978-1444006360
  13. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Lauren St John was born in Gatooma, Rhodesia, now Kadoma, Zimbabwe. Aged 11 she and her family moved to Rainbow's End farm in Gadzema, which later became the subject of her memoir. After studying journalism, she relocated to England, where she was golf correspondent to the SUNDAY TIMES. She is the author of several books on sports and music, as well as the award-winning children's quartet The White Giraffe and the BLUE PETER AWARD-winning Laura Marlin series. She has also recently written an adult novel, The Obituary Writer, published in 2013. Prize-winning author who can turn her hand to any genre, Lauren's ONE DOLLAR HORSE trilogy is perfect for horse lovers everywhere, whether you are an expert, or have always longed to own a pony.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00GVFMRSQ
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Orion Children's Books; UK ed. edition (March 1, 2012)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ March 1, 2012
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 771 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 221 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 615 ratings

About the author

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Lauren St. John

Lauren St. John

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Lauren St John grew up surrounded by horses, cats, dogs, horses and a pet giraffe on a farm and game reserve in Zimbabwe, the inspiration for her bestselling White Giraffe and One Dollar Horse series, as well as standalone novels, The Snow Angel and The Glory. Wave Riders, her acclaimed and thrilling sailing adventure, was published in 2022. Previously, Kat Wolfe Investigates, the first in her Wolfe and Lamb Mystery series, won the 2019 CrimeFest Best Crime Novel for Children. Dead Man’s Cove, the first in her Laura Marlin Mystery series, was a Blue Peter Book of the Year in 2011.

A passionate conservationist, Lauren is a Patron of Mane Chance Animal Sanctuary, an Ambassador for the Born Free Foundation, and the founder of Authors4Oceans.org. When not writing or saving leopards and dolphins, she is a full-time valet to her cats, Max, Skye and Freya.

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
4.6 out of 5
615 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Lisa Kohlberg
5.0 out of 5 stars Inspiring
Reviewed in the United States on January 8, 2018
Verified Purchase
Loved every part, what a great read. Thank you. I can see why my late daughter, Jenna, was gripped when she read this at 11 years old. I am sure it inspired and motivated her. I look forward reading the next book.
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R Buckland
5.0 out of 5 stars The most amazing story of trust between a horse and a girl
Reviewed in the United States on December 11, 2013
Verified Purchase
When Casey stumbled across this horse worn out and about to be put down it is impossible to believe this will be the one that will take her to the top of her game.
This is a story of the amazing bond between a horse and a girl. This is a story that will not be forgotten
One person found this helpful
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Blondish and Bookish
4.0 out of 5 stars Formulaic but exciting!
Reviewed in the United States on January 16, 2017
Verified Purchase
Casey Blue lives in a small flat in the bad part of London's East End and volunteers at a low end riding school—so of course she dreams of riding (and winning!) at Badminton. When she hears the scream of a terrified horse and sees the big, skin-and-bone gray racing down a busy street, she grabs his rope and the disgusted slaughterhouse owner sells her the horse for $1 after the horse injures several employees. So with a starved and weak rescue horse, no money, no trainer, and no experience, the stage is set.

The good: the horse parts are well done, both the actions of the individual horses and the scenes at the barns and at the shows. The descriptions of the horse trailers (and of difficulties loading horses!) and things that happen during the different phases of the shows were especially good. I loved the horse himself, big brave boy. The story was interesting and the book held my attention throughout. And I loved that it was about eventing, a sport which isn't written about as much as it deserves.

The bad: The plot is very typical: horse is rescued from slaughter, forms a bond with his rescuer and they become champions. Girl's friend and neighbor turns out to be skilled trainer. Anonymous benefactor provides money. Girl's love for her horse triumphs over other riders—they have more experience and fancy horses but Casey has LOVE for her horse, which trumps all. It was also unrealistic in the extreme that a 15 year old girl who's had ten riding lessons in her life could take an inexperienced horse to Badminton in two years. Most annoying, they go to their first event (at Novice level UK, which is Prelim level in the USA) without ever schooling a single cross country fence. In fact there is not a single mention of any training over fences in the book. Since they contstantly get rails in stadium, perhaps some schooling might have helped? Maybe? But I guess when your coach is a champion dressage rider you can just skip the jumping training...sigh.

Overall I really enjoyed the book. Despite the unrealistic parts—and most horse fiction IS unrealistic, nobody'd read a book where the heroine and her horse never got anywhere—the story was fun and exciting. Looking forward to the second book in the series!
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steven f.
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent
Reviewed in the United States on July 18, 2020
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Very fast great product
One person found this helpful
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Mom on the go
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on May 17, 2017
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My teenager loved this book.
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Sydney Scrogham
5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic Horse Book
Reviewed in the United States on September 7, 2015
This is an utterly fantastic horse book I read in the span of a weekend. I picked it up at a small local book store while I was visiting Hexham, and I'm so glad I did!

Any horse - or animal lover - will adore this book. But it's not just about animal love. Human relationships are woven into this in such a lovely, tangled way that it adds to the good feelings from the story instead of taking away from it.

There were two slow points for me, but I found that easy to forgive in light of a great overall story. It's been too long since I've had a good weekend book. Thank you!
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Vr
5.0 out of 5 stars The one dollar horse
Reviewed in the United States on April 8, 2013
This is one of the best books I ever read. It is full of emotions and beautifully written. I would recommend this amazing book to everyone!
One person found this helpful
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Amazon Customer
3.0 out of 5 stars Three Stars
Reviewed in the United States on March 4, 2016
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I enjoyed this book,
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Top reviews from other countries

Alison Wallace
5.0 out of 5 stars It was a great book for young readers
Reviewed in Germany on March 1, 2021
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Great storyline. Engaging.
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Lynne Cepollina
5.0 out of 5 stars Great read - Horse dreams come true
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 28, 2021
Verified Purchase
Gripped from the start and every character was as believable and intense as the next. Horsey people as they say will live their dreams through Casey I’m sure.
One person found this helpful
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Timely arrivaland condition.
Reviewed in Canada on January 7, 2019
Verified Purchase
I cannot give an opinion on the content as it was purchased as a gift but it was received with great enthusiasm by the recipient.
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max
5.0 out of 5 stars Good all round enjoyable read.
Reviewed in France on October 3, 2016
Verified Purchase
This was a great book for children and teenagers and even adults.I hope they do lots more in this series.
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Vog46
4.0 out of 5 stars The One Dollar Horse
Reviewed in Italy on October 10, 2014
Verified Purchase
As a horse lover I loved it although perhaps it's better suited to a horse mad teenager! But, yes, a good relaxing read!
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