Sarah's Long Ride (Piper Ranch)

By Susan Page Davis

Book Overview

The Bandicoot 100 is coming up, and Sarah Piper and her horse Icicle are registered for the race. But Sarah s mother has recently died, leaving Sarah without a riding partner. Adjusting to a new home... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1591667372
• ISBN13: 9781591667377
• Release Date: March 2007
• Publisher: Journeyforth
• Length: 173 Pages
• Weight: 0.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 5.7" x 8.4"
• Age Range: 8 to 12 years
• Grade Range: Grades 3 to 7

Customer Reviews

The Longest Ride of Sarah's Life

Sarah's Long Ride, by Susan Page Davis, is a story of a girl on a new life journey. After the tragic death of her mother, fourteen-year old Sarah Piper goes to live with her uncle Joe on his ranch in Eastern Oregon. She hardly knows her uncle, but he offers to let Sarah bring her horse, Icicle, and her mother's horse, Clover, along. Desperate to keep both horses, Sarah acclimates to isolated life in the country and tries to get to know her shy uncle. She worries he doesn't like her and never really wanted to have a teenage girl come live with him. She watches him train horses and keeps Icicle and Clover in shape by riding them every day. The horses once competed in endurance races. Sarah hopes Uncle Joe will partner with her as a sponsor for the Bandicoot 100, a big upcoming race. Sarah misses her mother desperately. As time goes on, she and Uncle Joe grow closer, and she starts to learn his way of communicating. He truly does care for her. They have love for God and horses in common. Uncle Joe signs them up for the Bandicoot 100, the longest ride of Sarah's life. By the time the race starts, Sarah has learned to lean on God for strength in any pursuit in life. Sarah's Long Ride is a heartwarming story of perseverance and faithfulness in all things. I enjoyed seeing Sarah and Uncle Joe become a family. Recommended.

Fantastic book for kids and adults!

This book may be listed as a 9-12 year old read, but that doesn't begin to do this book proper justice! I read it by myself with the intent of going back and reading it with my 11 year old daughter. I enjoyed it so much that it will be a family read instead as all 5 of my children ages 3-11 will love getting to know Sarah, Uncle Joe, Junior, Miss Rose, Aunt Becky and Eric. Susan Page Davis takes us inside Sarah's world - a 14 year old girl who is suddenly left all alone after a tragic accident takes her mom away from her and her dad died 8 years previously. Uncle Joe, a quiet, solitary bachelor takes her in on his horse farm which allows her to keep her horse and her mom's horse. As they settle into a routine, Uncle Joe finally agrees to ride with Sarah in the Bandicoot 100, which her mom had previously registered to do with Sarah. This leads us inside the world of distance horse racing which turned out to be fascinating! This is Sarah's first time to do a 100 (100 miles in under 24 hours) though she and her mother had completed a 50 mile race shortly before her mom passed away. God's provision is the phrase that kept coming to mind as I read this book, God's provision for Sarah (and Uncle Joe) even when they didn't know what they needed. This was just a really great book and I can't wait to see what Susan brings us in the next installment of The Piper Ranch Series!

Sarah's Long Ride (The Piper Ranch) Great Book!

I was pleasantly surprised that this was not your typical story about a girl who becomes an orphan; is left with adults who do horrible things to that orphan. Quite the opposite is true in this book. Sarah is the orphan who loses her mom unexpectedly two weeks before "The Bandicoot 100" in Oregon. That is the competition that Sarah and her mom were registered to compete in together. After Sarah's mom dies she isn't sure how her uncle really feels about her and why he wanted her to live with him in the first place. But as the story unfolds you see both Sarah and her Uncle live and breathe horses and God. That is their connection. It was difficult for them at first to work out new routines for their lives and learn about one another. It was fascinating how both Sarah and Uncle Joe planned their days around caring for the many horses on the Piper Ranch. They also had to work out how they could find time to train the horses for the competition and do the normal chores. Sarah's faith is tested and she learns to press into her faith in God her father. She takes comfort in scripture one night (Isaiah 65:24) "And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer, and while they are yet speaking, I will hear." Sarah's prayer that night is "Thank you for answering my prayer, Father;" she whispers "You gave me everything I needed, even when I was too hurt to know what that was...Thanks especially for Uncle Joe. You know we needed each other." I was amazed at all the checks and balances that were planned within the Bandicoot 100 competition. Everyone wants to make sure that the horses and humans do not get hurt or abused during the race. Susan does a great job about taking you inside the world of horse competition and horse care. It was very interesting to read. This is a story of faith, hope and love as you get to know Sarah and Uncle Joe. See their struggle to get to know each other and become a family unit. This story will grab your heart strings. You don't have to be a horse lover to enjoy this story. I highly recommend this book for everyone to read. Nora St.Laurent Book Club Servant Leader [...]