Quicksand Pony [Hardcover]

Alison Lester (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 10 and up | Grade Level: 5 and up

'Biddy, I'm sorry, we're going to have to leave her.' 'What?' Biddy struggles out of the quicksand. 'You can't leave her! The tide's coming in. She'll drown!' But the pony is trapped and Biddy is forced to go on without her. The next day the only signs of Bella area hoof prints in the sand...with small footprints and the paw marks of a dog. Who has rescued Bella? Who could be so small and be alone on this remote beach? Biddy's search takes her into wild secret country where she discovers the truth about a mysterious disappearance that happened many years ago. Alison Lester's picture books are loved by families around the world. In this gripping adventure story, set in the Australian bush she knows so well, she comes into her own as a writer and a born storyteller.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

"The moon was full the night they disappeared." This hushed, cryptic opening sets up readers for disappointment in this disjointed tale told through several viewpoints. The first perspective is from a woman fleeing with a baby by boat under cover of darkness, "to the hidden valley she remembered from so long ago." Almost nine years have passed in the next chapter, when Lester (Tess Snaps Snakes) introduces Biddy, who lives on a sheep and cattle farm with her parents and grandfather. Next, Biddy's best friend (who doesn't appear again until near the end of the book) reveals a family "secret" about her aunt Joycie, a young grieving widow who ran away from home and allegedly drowned with her infant son, Joe. Eventually the threads of the story join during a cattle drive on the headland when Biddy's horse, Bella, gets trapped in quicksand and Joe saves the animal. Intermittently, the author offers a rather sluggish account of how Joycie and Joe subsist in the wild, undetected, for years (sleeping in a cave, spearing fish and occasionally snatching essentials from a ranger's supplies). Though the author treats readers to some lyrical passages, she never fully develops the relationships between Biddy and her horse, or Joycie and Joe, so that the dramatic scene when Biddy abandons Bella to the quicksand doesn't have much impact. The vague time lapses between chapters from different characters' perspectives exacerbate the problem. Unfortunately, this novel does not succeed either as fully realized horse story or mystery. Ages 10-14.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Grade 4-7-How exciting to read a novel for this audience that is so rich and multilayered. It is a gripping adventure story, a tale of survival, an engaging mystery, a touching animal story, and a family saga. All of these elements are held together by a wonderful sense of place and incorporate important yet subtly delivered themes of resilience, independence, and dependence. The opening chapter tells of a bereft young woman who chooses to leave behind her life and family in town to raise her son alone in the remote Australian headlands. With a shift forward nine years, readers meet a new character, 10-year-old Biddy, who is allowed for the first time to muster and drive the cattle home with her parents. When her beloved horse is caught in quicksand, Biddy is devastated that she must leave Bella, with only a slim hope that the animal will somehow get free. Returning the next day to the desolate beach, the child finds that the horse has escaped, with help provided by a set of small human footprints. Her search for Bella takes her into a wild, secret country where she discovers the truth about the mother and child's mysterious disappearance nine years earlier. The story shifts back and forth between Biddy and the boy until their meeting near the novel's conclusion when Joe's loneliness, Biddy's search for her horse, and their mutual curiosity bring them together. Australian idioms and bush customs are explained in context. This book will be easy to recommend to readers of varied interests.
Connie Tyrrell Burns, Mahoney Middle School, South Portland, ME
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Hardcover: 144 pages
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children (October 26, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0395937493
• ISBN-13: 978-0395937495
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.8 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #420,967 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderfully exciting adventure story for readers, July 7, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Quicksand Pony (Hardcover)

This is Lester's first novel for young adults, but I hope not her last. The Quicksand Pony is a gripping adventure story about two young people living on the Australian coastline. Biddy's live revolves aroung a loving cattle-ranching family and Joe has lived in hiding, in the wilderness, with his emotionally distrubed mother for as long as he can remember, having no contact with the outside world. After the death of his mother, Joycie, Joe decides that his need for human companionship is greater than the fear his mother has instilled in him of people. The actions of Biddy and Joe lead the reader on a breath-taking adventure of self-discovery and mystery as these two young people battle not only the natural elements of the wilderness but their individual emotions. This is a heart warming story that I find easy to recommend to readers.

5.0 out of 5 stars An example of quality Australian children's literature, November 28, 2000

By 

Julia MacIntyre (Encinitas, California USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Quicksand Pony (Hardcover)

When are we going to get another wonderful novel for older children from Alison Lester! I read this book with my eight year old and we both found it gripping. We were sad when we had finished the book. This is a great example of the wonderful childrens literature that comes out of Australia. Please, Please, Amazon.com, get hold of more of this good quality Australian literature for us.

5.0 out of 5 stars The quicksand Pony, May 16, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Quicksand Pony (Hardcover)

Excelent book. It is perfect for the age group. Perfect for a good night story. It gave a wonderfull scense of adventure. The discription was great I felt like i was there. I defanitly recomend this book