Fire Pony by Sheila Ruble NEUF expédition

Twelve year old Cricket OConner lives on a Montana horse ranch, where she reluctantly assists her mother with breaking young horses to saddle. When she finds out that her mother expects her to work with a particularly difficult three year old, Cricket thinks her summer cant get any worse. But Crickets wrong---her summer does get worse. Much worse. When wildfire threatens the ranch and two valuable colts go missing, Cricket has to make a choice-help her mother try to save the house and barn or ride out alone on the half-broke Gonna Be to find the missing colts. Cricket clings to the hope that her birthday purchase of a unique, hand-painted model horse will bring her good luck and help save the ranch. But will it? Or will the mysterious Fire Pony attract fire, rather than repel it?Fire Pony touches on crucial issues facing the intermountain West: drought, beetle-kill, and wildfire in the urban-wildlands interface. More than just an adventure story for middle graders, Fire Pony can be a thought-provoking read for any age.

Sheila Ruble is the author of Fire Pony and Dont Park on a Pig, as well as the co-author of Listening to Stones. Several of her poems have been selected for inclusion in regional anthologies of western writers. Inspired by true events, Fire Pony is her first middle-grade novel. Originally from Colorado, Ruble has lived most of her life on a small ranch in south-central Montana. Now retired, she served for many years as a 4-H leader and a U.S. Pony Club instructor and also gave private lessons in dressage and dog obedience.Ruble continues to volunteer with Pet Partners, a national organization devoted to providing animal therapy to those in need.An avid amateur photographer as well as horsewoman, she can usually be found during nice weather at her cabin in the Absaroka Mountains.She and her husband, Bob, raised two daughters and over the years have owned an assortment of animals, including dogs, cats, donkeys, sheep, horses, and the occasional goldfish. Ruble is presently working on a sequel to Fire Pony, as well as a new book of poetry for children about real animals she has known on the ranch.