Beatrice and her little sister Vivian wake up in a hayloft to find that their father - formerly a banker - has left them with a note to ask the woman whose Virginia estate they're on to take them in, as she's the mother of their mother's college roommate. Bea observes Mrs. Scott from afar, sees no evidence of her daughter Marjorie, and decides to keep the note a secret, but offer her and her sister's services to help pick peaches and weed the vegetable patch - and help with the horses. Mrs. Scott is stern but kind, and allows the girls to stay, even when Viv makes a mistake that hurts stablehand Ralph. Now it's up to Bea to make up for her sister's mistake - Mrs. Scott will train her to ride in an upcoming horse show for the prize money. Bea forms an unlikely bond with a fiery chestnut horse that Mrs. Scott seems to hate, and the two become a remarkable team - but will their victory result in their separation?

Set convincingly in Depression-era Virginia during a summer of drought, with a stubborn, savvy, scrappy heroine, and developed secondary characters (Malachi is nearly blind, not from his service in the Great War but because he was attacked by whites during a veterans' parade; Mrs. Scott's two sons were killed in the war, and her daughter didn't share her love of horses; Ralph knows the family inside and out and gives Bea good advice), Bea and the New Deal Horse is perfect for horse people and historical fiction readers.

See also: Three Strike Summer by Skyler Schrempp, A Place to Hang the Moon by Kate Albus, The War That Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

You have to mean what you say with a child. Adults seem to forget that. (49)

I was coming to realize Daddy just wasn't any good at the hard part of parenting. (57)

Seemed to be an awful lot of sad mysteries hanging about these folks, like a thick fog that is near impossible to navigate without tripping and busting something. (105)

"That's the thing about Mrs. Scott - if people dare her, or demean her, or she sees them being cruel, she's going to stand up to them. To her own detriment." (Malachi to Bea, 155)

But I was so tired of adults knowing things I didn't. Their keeping secrets or making decisions about me without asking what I might think. (188)

The terrible responsibilities he had shoveled onto me... (207)

"Parents sometimes do the absolute worst, most foolish things," she whispered, "thinking they are doing what's best for their children." (Mrs. Scott to Bea, 220)

No one had warned me that life could turn on a dime and with the force of an earthquake. (303)

Stubbornness? Was that all bad? If it meant staying strong in the face of terrible things and not giving up, it seemed a pretty good trait to me. (319)

"Sometimes life hands us family that has nothing to do with blood ties, Beatrice." (343) ( )

First sentence: I woke up in a billowing pile of fresh-cut hay, wrapped in its miraculous smells--of buttercups, of those miniature fuzzy wild daisies, of grasshoppers. Not the big, prickly legged locusts that spit tobacco juice but the sweet little sliver of green grasshoppers that look like tiny blades of grass. No needles of dried-up, dead-yellow straw sticking and tickling either. Soft, like sleeping on a little mountain of emerald-colored lace.

Premise/plot: Bea and Vivian are abandoned (essentially) by their father and left in the barn of their mother's college roommate's mother's Virginia horse farm. He leaves a note to his eldest, Bea, explaining just why he's leaving them there. (Not why he's leaving perhaps, but why there.) The novel is set during the early years of the Depression. (FDR is not president yet, though an election year is coming up). Their father, a banker, has lost everything--including hope that he can take care of his two little girls. Mrs. Scott, who owns the horse farm, is on hard times herself; she may lose everything too. Bea doesn't reveal all, but she does her best to prove useful to Mrs. Scott. Her and Vivian will do their best to contribute enough to the house to stay welcome. Bea's usefulness with horses comes in handy.

My thoughts: I do not like horse books. Usually. I did LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this horse book, however. It's good to know there are exceptions to the rule. (Black Beauty also comes to mind as an exception.) I really loved the characters--both major and minor characters. The story was engaging. I didn't think I could care about horses and horse competitions, but, I was very invested in the outcome. ( )

Bea and the New Deal Horse
L.M. Elliott
Hard cover

Set during the Great Depression this is a moving tale of and the magical partnership between girl and horse.

Hard work and tender loving care save the horse, and the farm.

Children's Books, Historical Fiction
HarperCollins Publishers ( )

A perfect book for young lovers of historical fiction and horses. Set in midst of the Great Depression, this story does not hold back in throwing hardship and loss on characters. And yet, the characters, through their "gumption" and stubbornness show readers how to navigate those losses and survive. It's a story that hits the trifecta of perfectly-paced plot, multi-dimensional, endearing characters, and a fully-developed, researched setting.

LM Elliott creates a beautiful main character, Beatrice, who young readers will appreciate because she's smart, including smart at reading people. I loved watching her negotiate her way into staying on the farm when her father abandoned her and her sister. She looks at life from the owner's, Mrs. Scott's, point of view and tailors her actions to fit with Ms. Scott's needs.

Ms. Elliott also beautifully weaves historical features into the story. Through the heart-breaking character of Malachi, readers learn about the treatment of African-American soldiers who fought in WWI when they returned to the US. I also learned of the "Bonus Army" of 1932 as they travel through town and try to enlist Malachi on their journey to Washington, DC to protest for payments promised to them. I had not heard of this story before. The author's note describes this in more detail along with historical figures she used as inspiration for the characters in the book.

I look forward to promoting it in my school library for my students and I foresee a long hold list.

I received an advanced reader copy of this book through LibraryThing's Early Reviewer program in exchange for an honest review. ( )