Book Extract: The Starlight Stables Gang by Esme Higgs and Jo Cotterill

I am so happy be welcoming Esme Higgs and Jo Cotterill to Novel Kicks and the blog tour for The Starlight Stables Gang – book one in a brand new series. 

Summer has always loved horses but she never thought she’d be able to learn how to ride them – not with money being so tight at home. Then she discovers the Starlight Stables where she meets a new gang of friends and learns how to ride in return for helping-out with the horses. It’s a dream come true!

Summer falls in love with life at the stables and especially with Luna, a beautiful dapple-grey pony. But one day, Summer arrives at the stables to find that Luna has been stolen in the night. It’s up to the Starlight Stables Gang to follow the clues and rescue Luna before it’s too late!

Full of fun, friendship and and mystery, this is the first book in the brand-new Starlight Stables Gang series. Beautifully illustrated by Hannah George.

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I’ve reviewed the novel below but first, Esme and Jo have shared an extract from The Starlight Stables Gang with us today. Enjoy. 

*****beginning of extract*****

I start to wash my hands, scanning the row of basins. I can’t see two girls talking to each other about horses. Have they already gone? My heart is beating fast. I wonder if I should dash out into the corridor to search for them. And then I get a grip of myself. For goodness’ sake, Summer! What would you do, anyway? Throw yourself on them and sob, ‘I love horses too, can I come rind ride yours?’

And then, while I’m standing there, soap on my hands, paralysed with indecision and embarrassment — a couple of girls are looking at me weirdly — I hear the second voice again. ‘Jessie? You still in here?’

‘Yeah.’

‘Me too.’

They giggle. And then two cubicle doors open at the same time and the girls come out, and I know instantly which one is Jessie because I’ve seen her in assembly. She has long black hair and she sometimes wears lip gloss, which is totally illegal in school but I think she gets away with it.

I don’t know what I was expecting, but my heart sinks a little because Jessie looks exactly like the kind of girl who would have her own pony.

The other girl is short and stocky and has a cloud of orange hair. I don’t know her name. My school is so big. ‘Are you going there again after school today?’ she asks Jessie as they come over to the basins and plonk down their bags.

Jessie flips her plait over her shoulder so it doesn’t fall in the sink. ‘Yeah. Three times a week. I’d go every day if I could, but Mum works. Hey, you want to see a photo of us jumping at the weekend?’

The other girl rolls her eyes and says teasingly, ‘Another one? Yeah, go on then.’

Phones get confiscated if the teachers see you with them, so you can only use them in the toilets.

Jessie pulls hers out of her bag and dries her hand on her skirt so she can swipe the screen. ‘Not this one, not this one — here.’ She holds it out, and in the mirror’s reflection I catch a glimpse of a girl in competition riding gear, with a smart black hat, perched on top of what looks like an enormous horse — from here I can’t tell what breed it is, but it’s a beautiful glossy dark brown — and girl and horse are suspended in mid-air over a jump.

‘Oh, wow,’ I breathe.

Jessie hears me and turns round. ‘Do you want to see?’ She holds out the phone to me.

I turn scarlet because I didn’t mean to say anything out loud, but I can’t take my eyes off the screen. ‘Is that an Arab?’ I ask.

Jessie beams. ‘It is! Mostly. An Arab cross Welsh, which means a bit of a mixture. Isn’t he gorgeous? His name is Angus; I haven’t had him long. Do you have a pony too?’

I give a short laugh. ‘Oh no. No, nothing like that.’ I realize I still have soapy hands, and I rinse them off and wipe them on my skirt like everyone else does. Someone shoves me from behind as they pass. ‘No, I… I just like horses.’

‘Me too.’ Jessie swipes through her photo gallery. ‘At the stables where I keep Angus, they have some gorgeous ponies. Look. ’

I gaze at photo after photo on her phone, drinking them in, oblivious to everyone around me, the flushing toilets, the banging doors. Jessie’s friend says something about having to go, but I barely notice. There are horses in fields, horses looking over stable doors, selfies Jessie has taken with horses, pulling faces … and then …

‘Stop!’ I cry. ‘That’s my horse!’

‘What?’ Jessie swipes back a couple. ‘What do you mean? I thought you said you didn’t have a horse?’

‘I don’t! I — I walk past this one every day.’ I stare at the dapple-grey mare on the screen, unable to believe my eyes. ‘This is at your stables?’

‘It’s not my stables, laughs Jessie. ‘I don’t own the yard. But yeah, that’s Luna. She lives in a field with Jasper. They’re besties, it’s so cute.’

Pebbles is really called Luna! And the chestnut is called Jasper! I can’t believe I know their real names at last. ‘Where’s the stables?’ I ask. Suddenly I want to know everything.

‘Two fields away from that one, Jessie says. ‘It’s called Starlight Stables. You should come along.’

‘Oh.’ Cold washes through me. ‘I — I don’t have any money for horse riding.’

‘Oh, that’s a shame, says Jessie. ‘You could come and help out, though, like I do. Mucking out and grooming and tacking up — Jodie and Sooz are always mad busy.’ The bell for afternoon registration rings. ‘Argh! I’ve got to get right across the site! Gotta go. Come and find me if you want to know more, OK?’ She disappears.

You know how, in films and videos, things sometimes go into slow motion at a crucial moment? This is it. Around me, a stream of girls rushes out of the toilets, into the bustling corridors, but I can’t move.

There’s a stables.

An actual stables within walking distance of my flat and I never knew.

They let kids go and help out there.

They let kids go and work there and be with the horses and groom the horses and tack up the horses and look after the horses and ohmygoodness I—

I can’t even —!

THE DAPPLE -GREY MARE IS CALLED LUNA AND MAYBE ICOULD LOOK AFTER HER!

Hope clutches at my heart. Maybe … maybe if I do an amazing job working there, and I go every day and I work really hard, maybe … they might let me ride Luna sometimes.

I am so late for registration that I get detention for the next day, but I don’t care.

All I’ve ever wanted to do is ride horses, and now . . now it might actually happen

***** end of extract*****

My verdict on The Starlight Stables Gang:

Summer and her father have moved into a flat and, due to starting school in the middle of the year, Summer has no friends. She would feel a little lonely if not for the pony she gets to say hello to on her way to and from school every day.
Summer loves horses but has never had the chance to ride one. When she makes friends with Jessie, she is introduced to Starlight Stables and her life changes forever.

The Starlight Stables Gang is the first book in this series and I found this to be a very sweet book.

Although aimed at 8-12 year olds, I feel that you’d get something from this book regardless. It’s a gentle reminder about having and believing in a passion and keeping the belief that it can manifest.

In Summer, Jessie, Ellie and Daniel, there’s a character many can relate to and I feel that each gets good character development.

There’s mystery to keep the younger reader engaged and there’s a lovely message about friendship, family and belief. Esme and Jo have done a good job as the plot moves well. You can tell that Esme knows a lot about horses and how to care for them. The passion shines through.

The illustrations in this book are also so beautifully done. Hannah George has done a great job.

This a wonderful beginning to a book series that I can see going beyond two novels – the second is due out in the summer of 2023. If your child has a love of horses or even if they don’t, there’s a lot that can be taken from The Starlight Stables Gang. Even as an adult, I loved it and I feel your child would too.

Thank you to Puffin and Kaleidoscopic Tours for the advanced review copy in exchange for an honest review. 

The Starlight Stables Gang is the first book in this series and was released by Puffin on 30th March 2023. Click to buy on Amazon UK, and Waterstones.

Click here to visit the previous stop in the blog tour, Reading and Life of a Bookworm. The tour continues tomorrow at Golden Books Girl.

About Esme Higgs: 

Esme Higgs is one of the biggest social-media content creators in the equestrian world with over 1.5 million followers. She’s a writer, presenter, video producer – and a horse-mad ordinary girl.

Her online videos are a mix of tutorials, horse-care videos, and vlogs about her horses (Mickey, Joey and Casper) and her life. She is also a proud ambassador for the Brooke charity and a patron to her local charity riding stables – Team Tutsham.

Say hello via You Tube, Instagram, and Facebook. 

About Jo Cotterill: 

Jo Cotterill is a multi-award-winning author with over forty books for children and young people. Her novel A Library of Lemons has sold into twelve countries and her superhero-comic strip series Electrigirl has encouraged many reluctant readers to enjoy reading. She has written stories for Disney and Doctor Who, and her background in acting and teaching makes her a hit on school visits. Jo lives in Oxfordshire with her daughters, one of whom is a massive Esme fan!

Say hello via Instagram and Twitter. 

by

Laura

I’m Laura. I started Novel Kicks in 2009. I wanted a place to post my writing as well as give other writers like me the opportunity to do the same. There is also a monthly book club, a writing room which features writing prompts, book reviews, competitions, author interviews and guest posts.

I grew up by the sea (my favourite place in the world) and I currently live in Hampshire. I am married to Chris, have a cat named Buddy and I would love to be a writer. I’m trying to write the novel I’ve talked so much about writing if only I could stop pressing delete. I’ve loved writing since creative writing classes in primary school. I have always wanted to see my teacher Miss Sayers again and thank her for the encouragement. When not trying to write the novel or writing snippets of stories on anything I can get my hands on, I love reading, dancing like a loon and singing to myself very badly. My current obsession is Once Upon a Time and I would be happy to live with magic in the enchanted forest surrounded by all those wonderful stories provided that world also included Harry Potter. I love reading chick lit. contemporary fiction and novels with mystery.