Little Pearl - by Melanie Sue Bowles (Paperback)

About the Book

Book Synopsis

In this soulful sequel to the crowd favorite Liberty Biscuit, a young teenager learns that no dream ever came true without believing it would.

Katherine Pearl Baker--"Kip" for short--has just gone from being the only child on her family's rural peach farm to becoming a big sister. As her world and the people in it change in order to welcome a tiny new family member, Kip finds herself afloat, wondering if the place she's carved out in life is the right one for her, after all.

While wandering one day in the woods she loves, Kip finds an old fence post bearing odd marks that appear to be symbols from a time long ago. Her discovery leads her to once again uncover a family secret and stories as yet untold about the ones she loves. What she learns tests her cherished relationship with her grandfather, as she recognizes a certain kind of loneliness within him for the first time and then must face what the resolution of that loneliness might mean.

Adding a starving horse named "Pearl" to her herd of rescued horses and beloved donkey Liberty Biscuit provides Kip a needed purpose, and the barn becomes her refuge as she struggles with her own uncomfortable secret. Desperate to tell her parents but embarrassed and unsure of how, it takes the return of a boy she trusts for her to finally admit that her path might be different than others planned it would be. The trouble is, Kip isn't sure she can be brave enough to put her voice to her thoughts and share them.

As the sweet-natured Little Pearl gradually regains her strength and beauty through Kip's thoughtful care, and the wary and distant Raven begins to trust Kip's presence and her touch, Kip feels the flame of a new dream flicker to life. With the birth of this dream, a level of understanding grows, not only of her horses, but of her grandfather, and eventually, of herself.

Review Quotes

"The book's strength lies in its depiction of the ways Kip's mind works differently from her peers'. Bowles doesn't diagnose Kip and shares in a foreword that she struggled in the same way as a young person. This intentional ambiguity feels powerful, offering readers a chance to see themselves and feel accepted. A solid work that affirms neurodiversity." (Fiction. 9-13) --Kirkus Reviews

"In this sequel to Liberty Biscuit (Kip's beloved donkey), Kip learns that no dream ever came true without believing it would! A sweet story. We feel in love with Little Pearl. --Blaze for Kids Magazine

"A neatly paced book that offers the young reader an inspirational tale that will help them appreciate 'self'. ...a literary level of fiction writing without boring prose. Good job! A definite recommend." --Catskill Horse Magazine

About the Author

When Melanie Sue Bowles stumbled across the quote, "The purpose of life is to live a life of purpose," she loved it so much that it became the steadfast philosophy by which she has lived her entire adult life. Unwanted, elderly, and abused horses became her purpose, and she and her husband Jim began Proud Spirit Horse Sanctuary with one horse in need on 5 acres of land in rural Florida. Their facility grew to hundreds of acres in Georgia, and then North Carolina, where rescued animals were allowed to roam as natural herds. Over the years, Melanie and Jim have intervened on behalf of over 300 downtrodden horses, many of them coming to the sanctuary to live out their lives in peace and dignity. Their story has been featured on PBS and in three books Bowles has written about the Sanctuary's animal residents. Bowles comes from a large family, many of whom own horses and love all animals as much as she does, including nieces, nephews, and grandchildren who helped inspire the characters in her first middle-grade novel Liberty Biscuit, and now, Little Pearl.