Snow foal

A young girl bonds with an abandoned Exmoor pony foal when she goes to stay with a foster family after her mother is hospitalised.

When eleven-year-old Addie goes to stay with a foster-care family on a remote Exmoor farm in the midst of a very cold winter, she is full of hurt, anger and a deep mistrust of everyone around her. Until one day, when she rescues a tiny wild foal from the moorland snow and Addie discovers that perhaps she's not so alone after all.

And as adventure and unexpected friendship blossom, Addie is determined that both of them will know what is to be home again soon.

When eleven-year-old Addie goes to stay with a foster-care family on a remote Exmoor farm, she is angry and hurt. She trusts no-one and is desperate to get home to her mam. But when she becomes involved in caring for an abandoned foal and realises that she is the only human he trusts, Addie and the foal form an unbreakable bond. 

At first glance this appears to be a classic animal rescue story, with a cosy rural setting and cute baby horse. But the backbreaking work of farming, and the heartbreaking realities of why children end up in foster care, are not glossed over and the result is a novel that demands more of the reader. Addie's reason for being in foster care is slowly revealed, allowing the reader to gradually get to know her character and to sympathise with her predicament. The other characters are engaging and believable too, with the fellow foster children particularly well-written.

As the story reaches its moving and realistic conclusion, the twin strands of Addie's story and that of the foal, combine for a heartwarming but never saccharine read that fans of Jacqueline Wilson and Cathy Cassidy will enjoy.