Teen Equestrian Story – The North Oak Series by Ann Hunter
A GUEST POST
BY
BORN TO RUN AUTHOR ANN HUNTER
Today Good Reads With Ronna features a guest post by the North Oak series author, Ann Hunter, because the first eBook in her series, Born to Run, is available this week on BookBub for 99 cents! Get hooked on the first book then enjoy six more books in the series.
GUEST POST BY ANN HUNTER:
Alexandra Anderson, heroine of the contemporary YA North Oak series (recommended for ages 12 and up*), is an orphan who has endured trauma in the foster care system. She’s running from a dark past.
As a teacher, I regard the interception of children at a young age to be pivotal in their approach to and success in the world. When a child knows they’re loved and is given boundaries, they can then grow and flourish.
This young runaway doesn’t believe she’ll be worthy of love when the people at North Oak—good, honest people who have taken her in—find out what she’s done. She suspects she’s better off being alone forever.
It’s important that children have a strong support system around them. There’s no better example than family.
FAMILY:
Family isn’t always who you expect them to be. One hopes their parents will love them, but sometimes things happen. Family can extend to those who support you no matter what. They might be colorful, and crazy, and eccentric, but they put their trust in your greatness. They support you in your desire to do good in the world.
They help you find your true self. Alex discovers this through the people at North Oak, and horse racing. Her first real friend is a horse. He becomes a brother to her. She senses his spirit and desire to be great. Meanwhile, Alex’s new guardian isn’t so sure about the situation they’ve been thrown into, but she gradually falls in love with Alex as a mother should. However, she discovers her boss is keeping a secret that will change Alex’s life forever.
SUPPORT:
What kind of support system do you surround yourself with? Do they lift you up? Do they empower you and recognize your greatness?
Everyone deserves a family. Every child deserves to be loved.
That is North Oak’s goal (as a book series). Kids today need a support system. They are going through things we never really dealt to such a great extent in our own childhood days; scary topics such as bullying, suicide, and sexuality. We can’t raise them exactly the same way our parents raised us. That world doesn‘t exist anymore. We have to prepare them for a new one.
Love these children with all your fierceness. They need the sword and shield we can provide them with by enabling their confidence and giving them safe places to land.
NOTE:
* The series starts out middle grade, but ages up to YA with the reader as the main character ages. We follow Alex from the age of thirteen into her twenties.
ABOUT NORTH OAK:
North Oak champions tough issues kids and teens are facing today, such as bullying, suicide, and sexuality, all set against the exciting fast-paced world of horse racing.
He lost a sister. She lost a child. Alex lost everything.
When the thirteen-year-old orphan can run no further, she collapses at the gates of the prestigious racing and breeding farm, North Oak. Horse racing strikes a deep chord in her. She hears a higher calling in the jingle jangle of bit and stirrup and in the thunder of hooves on the turn for home. It tells her she has a place in the world. But when the racing headlines find her on the front of every sports page, she realizes North Oak is no longer a safe haven.
Money can’t buy love, but it just might secure Alex’s future. Will everyone at North Oak still want to offer her a home when they learn of her unspeakable crime?On the heels of Joanna Campbell’s beloved Thoroughbred Series, and Walter Farley’s Black Stallion, comes a brand new young adult horse racing series that will sweep you away like a runaway Thoroughbred.
FIND THE BOOKS HERE:
https://www.bookbub.com/books/
Click “View Price” for access to all the websites where the books are sold.
The first 3 books are free via Kindle Unlimited:
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:Ann Hunter is awesome and hilarious. She loves mentoring other writers and has a soft spot for kids and teens. She is often told it must be a blast living in her brain. She argues that the voices in her head never shut up. The only way to get relief is to let them out on to the page.
