Keeping Secrets at Dark Creek

Anne Hutchings, a former elementary-school teacher-librarian with the
Durham Board of Education, is an educational consultant.

Nothing seems to be going right for Jessa in this seventh book in the
StableMates series. Being in Grade 7 in a big new school, with
timetables, new faces, and lockers is overwhelming. Even opening her
combination lock is a major challenge.

As if that is not enough, Jessa has recently been diagnosed with
diabetes and must adjust to insulin shots, a new diet, and new
mealtimes. Fearful of being thought of as “weird,” Jessa makes her
best friend, Cheryl, promise not to tell anyone.

Even at her refuge, Dark Creek Stables, Jessa’s fate seems to be
conspiring against her. Mrs. Bailey makes her ride Jasmine, giving
Jessa’s favorite pony, Rebel, to the much younger Molly.

Jessa is miserable. As Cheryl sums it up: “[Y]ou hate everything
right now—school, your diabetes, everything. If you weren’t my best
friend, I wouldn’t think you were a very nice person.” So when Jessa
meets Andrew she hates him on sight, even though she discovers that he,
too, has a secret he wants kept.

Nikki Tate gives just enough detail about tack, grooming, and other
aspects of stabling a horse to make her story appealing to horse-crazy
readers, but not enough to become tedious to those who are non-riders.
Her characters and their problems are the kind that readers can relate
to and care about. The unraveling of the twists and turns of the plot as
the secrets are revealed, and the mystery surrounding the old watch
found on the Dark Creek Railway Trail, will keep readers turning the
pages right to the end. Recommended.