Books › Riding Freedom
Riding Freedom
144 pages
A spirited, dust-kicking historical adventure about breaking the rules to live on your own terms.
What it feels like
Reading this book feels like gripping the reins of a galloping horse—it is brisk, exhilarating, and full of forward momentum. The atmosphere is steeped in the dusty, sun-baked reality of the nineteenth-century American West, balancing the harshness of frontier life with an overwhelmingly hopeful and triumphant spirit. The prose is accessible and action-driven, perfectly suited for middle-grade readers, yet it doesn't shy away from the emotional weight of grief and the profound courage required to forge a hidden identity. It is a story of resilience, anchored by the deep, grounding bond between humans and animals. Readers who love defiant, rule-breaking protagonists and immersive historical settings will devour this inspiring tale of carving out a space for oneself in an unforgiving world.
- Mood
- dusty
- hopeful
- triumphant
- spirited
- Tone
- earnest
- adventurous
- resilient
- uplifting
- Pace
- brisk
- Themes
- forging one's own path · gender identity and expression · human-animal bonds · overcoming adversity · the American West
- The writing
- Accessible and action-oriented, with vivid sensory details that bring the dust and thundering hooves of the mid-1800s to life.
- The arc
- Moves from the restrictive confinement of an orphanage to the expansive, hard-won freedom of living authentically on the open frontier.
- Who it's for
- Middle-grade readers and horse lovers who crave historical adventures about defiant, rule-breaking protagonists.
Content notes
- death of parents
- infant loss
- death of a spouse
- orphanage mistreatment
About the book
A reissue of Pam Munoz Ryan's bestselling backlist with a distinctive new author treatment. In this fast-paced, courageous, and inspiring story, readers adventure with Charlotte Parkhurst as she first finds work as a stable hand, becomes a famous stage-coach driver (performing brave feats and outwitting bandits), finds love as a woman but later resumes her identity as a man after the loss of a baby and the tragic death of her husband, and ultimately settles out west on the farm she'd dreamed of having since childhood. It wasn't until after her death that anyone discovered she was a woman.
Description from Open Library.
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