Forever an all-star book for me!

Tessa is only 4 years old when she and her mother leave her father, and Tessa's beloved horse Shiner. Now 12, Tessa is angry and troubled and not content staying at home with her mother and her horrible stepfather Maurice. Sent to a neighboring racing stables to help out, Tessa meets ugly Buffoon, a no-hoper racehorse whose mother, Tessa finds out, was Shiner. A horse-girl love story is born, and Tessa believes Buffoon can be a star and takes everyone along on their adventure to the Grand National.

I just adore this book so much, and every time I read it, I'm carried along with the story and Tessa's ups and downs at home, her refound passion for horses and her bond with Buffoon. I love the inside look at what it takes to train racehorses - and the amazing highs and devastating lows that come with it - as well as just the general horsiness of this book. If you loves horses, you will love this book.

There are parts of this book that get a bit darker and we do follow Tessa up to adulthood, with the novel ending when she is 20 years of age, living independently and racing horses for a living. I think in a more modern book, there are parts of Tessa's life that would have to be given more attention - her abusive stepfather, Tessa's anger issues and inability to suppress her wild emotions, but for the time this was written, I still think the topics were handled okay and the horses and Buffoon took over as was fitting in a novel aimed at young readers.

My most recent reread (February 2021) gave me a renewed love for this book and, in particular, the final scene of the novel which is the last race scene. The way KM Peyton wrote every second of the race, it feels like you are both riding Buffoon along with Tessa, and screaming on the Grand Stand with Peter, Myra, Jimmy, and then almost fainting along with the other lads with Wisbey. The excitement and the energy that is held within the pages as Tessa and Tom race neck to neck is brilliant.

This is one of those books that I wish was 1000 pages longer, and just never ended, as I love the story, the people and most of all the horses, so much.