“Winners never quit and quitters never win, because I serve the mighty God that lives deep within."

This is the motto of encouragement that Isabel Morningsky repeats whenever she needs a dose of strength and courage. Isabel is a strong, 11-year-old girl living on her family’s Angel Ridge Ranch in Colorado. She spends her time with her horse Starlight and her best friend Holly. An only child, Isabel thrives on the daily routine of the ranch her family runs and time spent with the horses.

One night, she overhears a conversation between her grandmother and her parents that motivates her to solve the mystery of their secret. In the conversation, Isabel finds out that Grandmother Biltmore gave her parents a loan for the ranch and is unhappy with the way Isabel is being raised. Grandmother wants to take Isabel to Boston to a boarding school where she will be raised Grandmother’s way, and if Isabel doesn’t go, the ranch will be sold to pay off the loan. Isabel doesn’t want to go and begins to try to find a way, on her own, to help her family keep the ranch and not have to go to Boston.Since Grandmother thinks Isabel is too much of tomboy, Isabel enlists Holly to give her a makeover. Her escapades inject humor into the book, especially when her dad decides she needs to go to “girl camp.” The only redeeming quality of “girl camp” is that Holly is going, too. While there, she finds out she gets to ride horses, and she meets a new friend, a Native American boy named Jason Twofeathers.

As time passes and the day draws near when she will have to leave for Boston if she is going to save the ranch, her dad takes their family, Holly, and their horses to a powwow. While there, Isabel meets someone she never expects, and the secrets are revealed. Isabel finally talks to her dad about what she had overheard months before—the burden she had been carrying. As a family, they face what will become of the ranch, whether Isabel will go to Boston, and the resolution of the secret.

Isabel’s Secret was fun to read, for both me and my 10-year-old daughter. She devoured the book in an afternoon. Appropriate for 8- to 12-year-old girls, this book is a good example of a young girl growing in her faith and relationship with her Lord and relying on Him for answers even when she isn’t sure where she is going. Her motto appears throughout the book when she is struggling. It is a great example for preteens of finding strength when you need it.

The two drawbacks I found in the book were that Isabel seems to have a habit of eavesdropping on conversations and she doesn’t go to her parents for help in solving the biggest problems she has encountered in life. However, these points make very good discussions about character and honesty with your daughter. Talking about the best way to handle a problem and asking for help with it, even when it is hard to ask, provides guidance that our daughters may not even realize they need. Pointing out to our daughters that eavesdropping is wrong and that, by doing so, you may get information that becomes a burden is worth the discussion.

Isabel’s Secret is a great book that I recommend if you have a preteen daughter, especially if you have one who loves horses. Isabel provides a good role model, and the story opens up some valuable discussion opportunities.

-Product Review by Lori Hooten, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, January, 2015