The Secret Horses of Briar Hill deserves a spot on the shelf next to the most beloved children's classics--yes, even The Secret Garden.
In World War II England, a fierce, imaginative girl named Emmaline who loves to draw lives in a children's hospital, a converted mansion in the countryside, run by the Sisters of Mercy. Emmaline has a lung disease she calls the "stillwaters," or tuberculosis, as do the other boys and girls, whose doors are color-coded from blue (well enough to go outside) to red (dire indeed). Emmaline starts out blue, but her bedridden best friend Anna is red. She hopes Anna will one day see what she sees: winged horses in the old mansion's elegant mirrors.
Emmaline used to think the winged horses she likes to sketch lived only in the mirror-world, but, to her wonder and delight, she discovers a real one beyond the ivy-covered garden wall, standing near the sundial. A mysterious note from "The Horse Lord" left under the sundial's arm tells her the horse's name is Foxfire and that Foxfire is being hunted by the Black Horse. The Horse Lord asks that "whoever receives this message" help protect her. Emmaline throws herself into the task, sneaking out of the hospital and even risking her life for Foxfire. In clear, gripping, flawless prose, Megan Shepherd (The Madman's Daughter; The Cage) keeps readers vacillating on what's real and what's imagined as Emmaline tries to sort it out herself. This exquisite, beautifully illustrated middle-grade novel explodes with raw anguish, magic and hope, and readers will clutch it to their chests and not want to let go. --Karin Snelson, children's & YA editor, Shelf Awareness