Beware the Mare

Named to the Sequoyah Award Master List: Experienced rider Lily is ready for a real horse—will Beware the mare bring her good or bad luck?

The bright-eyed bay mare in the truck looks very small. Lily’s grandfather brought her home to their Vermont farm as a present for Lily. She’s shaggy, her mane is tangled, and she looks as if she hasn’t been brushed in a long time. To Lily, she’s beautiful.
 
But Lily has to solve the mystery of her name. Why is she called Beware? And why did Gramp get her so cheap? Is something wrong with her? Lily can’t imagine what—she’s already crazy about the little bay. The test will be when Lily takes her out for her first ride. What will happen then?
 
This charming story of a girl and her pony will capture the hearts of horse-crazy young readers everywhere.

“Will capture young horse lovers with its believable characters and realistic dialogue.” —School Library Journal
 
“Haas [offers] a slice of rural Vermont life so simply and vividly drawn that it’s the next best thing to being there.” —Kirkus Reviews

Jessie Haas is the author of numerous acclaimed books for young people, including Unbroken, which was a Publishers Weekly Best Book. She lives in Westminster, Vermont, with her husband, Michael J. Daley, a children’s author. Haas began writing about horses from a young age and wrote a story during her junior year of college that became her first novel, Keeping Barney.