• Age: 9 to 13
• Grade: 4 to 8

When thirteen-year-old Jamie Francis’s parents divorced, she and her mother moved from Halifax to the small town of River Bend, Nova Scotia. Jamie doesn’t have any friends and isn’t sure how she’ll ever make any, when she comes across a neglected-looking horse in a field: a golden palomino she names Peach.

After befriending Peach’s widowed owner, Jamie learns that her newfound friend is being sold to notorious horse-trainer, Valerie Scott, at nearby Tamarack Stables. Jamie offers to pitch in, mucking out stalls and doing chores around the barn, and becomes enchanted with the world of competitive horseback riding. She even makes a few friends—including Val’s cute red-headed son, Nick, and Naomi, a popular girl from school. But she still isn’t sure if she fits in. If only she could ride Peach herself…

Will horseback-riding be the key to Jamie’s happiness, or will it gallop off into the sunset without her?

Vivien Gorham's first novel, Touch of Gold, won the 2017 Hackmatack Children's Choice Book Award and was featured in the Canadian Children's Book Centre's Best Books for Kids and Teens. Her second novel, Spirit of Summerwood, was published in 2022. Raised in Minnesota, Vivien has worked in the Northwest Territories, Alaska's Denali National Park, and on a dude ranch in Montana. She now lives in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. In her spare time she enjoys volunteering in a therapeutic riding program. She also loves to swim, hike, and, best of all, ride horses. Visit Vivien online at viviengorham.com.

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