• Age: 12 to 18
• Grade: 8 to 12
• Reading age: 12 to 18

When Ambrose is forced to sell his horse because of an injury, he must find a new animal that can handle the rigors of the mountains while packing for his uncleís trail-riding outfit.

To save an old lady's beloved companion from the meat-buyers, Ambrose buys a horse who would be better off in retirement than climbing the treacherous trails of the Rocky Mountains. The horse, Society Girl, almost dies on the trail, and Ambrose realizes she will have to go back to the meat-auction. When Ryan, a misbehaving ten-year-old, takes the horse and disappears into the teeth of a dangerous mountain storm, Ambrose and Janice are forced to work together to find him. Will the young boy and the elderly horse survive a vicious hailstorm? Will Society Girl prove that she has a future? Will Ambrose be able to save the old horse from certain death?

This short novel is a high-interest, low-reading level book for teen readers who are building reading skills, want a quick read or say they don’t like to read!

Irene Morck is the author of four previous books, including the popular children’s book Tiger’s New Cowboy Boots. Her fiction and non-fiction have appeared in magazines, anthologies, and on the radio. She and her husband live on a farm near Spruce View, Alberta, just a few kilometres away from the homestead where her father grew up.

Irene Morck's profile page

• Commended, Canadian Children's Book Centre (CCBC) Our Choice
• Commended, Pennsylvania School Librarians Association (PSLA) Top Forty

"Short and sweet, this is likely to please outdoorsy teens as well as the usual horse-mad girls."

KLIATT

“With just enough horses to appease girls, and just evough adventure to engage boys, Tough Trails delivers strong characters, adventures, and an easy to understand linear plot in just under 100 pages. Nothing in here will offend, either, making this an uncontroversial choice for classrooms. Recommended.”

NMRLS Book Review Group

“Provides readers with a true sense of escape and adventure. Sure to appeal to animal lovers and adventure lovers alike, it presents colourful characters and a unique plot.”

CM Magazine

"The action driven story will have reluctant readers galloping through this title. Sentences are short, grammar is uncomplicated, while the plot provides much material for discussion."

Resource Links

"Morck's experience with horses and trail-riding in the mountains is most evident...This book is aimed at an audience that is not limited to older adolescents; the gentle but engaging animal-human adventure story will also find a ready audience among middle-school students. Recommended."

Canadian Book Review Annual

“This small volume, beautifully written with vivid imagery and well-developed characters and plot, explains how sometimes what might seem like a bad decision might actually be a good one.”

Western Horseman