Shadow Horse - Hardcover

Mystery Writers of America Edgar Award Nominee Best Juvenile Novel

After assaulting the owner of the horse farm where she works, thirteen-year-old Jasmine Schuler must face the inside of a courtroom and then juvenile hall.

Jas knows no one will believe her defense -- that the man she attacked had poisoned Whirlwind, the mare she loved. Wealthy horse owner Hugh Robicheaux is powerful enough to shift all blame to Jas's grandfather. But Jas refuses to give up. After the judge pronounces her guilty of assault and puts her into foster care at Second Chance, a farm for abused animals, she remains determined to prove her charge against Hugh.

The key becomes a scrawny brown gelding she rescues at a horse auction. She's sure Shadow is somehow connected to the mare she lost, but how?

Deftly written by a teacher and equestrian who has authored over 50 books, this heartwarming and inspiring novel will have special appeal for mystery fans as well as young horse lovers.

Thirteen-year-old foster kid Jasmine Schuler is immediately drawn to the scrawny, broken-looking brown gelding huddled in the corner of an auction house stall. Feeling a kinship with the lonely animal, Jas convinces her new foster mom, who rescues and rehabilitates abused horses on her Virginia farm, to buy him. Slowly, the horse Jas names Shadow begins to blossom and even to thrive. But when Jas uncovers a startling clue to Shadow's true identity, she becomes entangled in a mystery which could have serious consequences for the two of them.  Both the heartwarming story of a young girl's love for her horse and an intriguing mystery, this inspiring middle-grade novel will appeal to horse lovers and mystery fans alike.