Covington, Virginia is an industrial town in the Appalachian Mountains that is home to the Criser family, a tightly knit clan of hard-bitten horse traders. At the heart of this story is Sid, a teenage girl wise and tough like her mountain ancestors. Sid's father died tragically, leaving her with her grieving mother, her mother's abusive millworker boyfriend, and her Uncle Wayne.   Sid breaks and trains horses with Wayne, resisting the temptation to drop out and work at WestVaCo, the local paper mill that has reduced a generation of farmers to factory drones.  Wayne, a caretaker and legendary horse trader, is her only moral compass, although he's known to disappear on a drunk or to chase after a married woman. Wayne knows how to survive, and he instills Sid with the confidence and daring that he no longer has.   Sid realizes she can steer her family out of the ditch they're in by selling horses with Wayne.  But horse trading isn't for the faint of heart, and the money isn't easy.  Out of options, Sid takes a job with Wayne at Oak Hill, the elite show barn in Charlottesville.  At Oak Hill, the horses are worth more than the houses in Covington and the kids take the winter off of school for the Florida circuit. The show world, however, has a side even darker than what she's seen in the back auction lots and killing pens - a world of rich parents buying championships for their children, illegal doping, and fraud.  Sid thought that being from Covington, she'd seen it all, but when she finds herself competing in the upper echelon of the horse show world in New York City, she discovers how brutal the world of high level competition can be. Perseverance is a family trait, though, and Sid won't go down without a fight. Gr 8 Up-Living in small-town Virginia, 14-year-old Sid feels trapped. Between avoiding her unemployed mother's increasingly abusive new boyfriend and constant reminders that most townspeople end up working in the paper mill, Sid's only escape is taking care of and riding horses. To earn money, she agrees to work at an upscale show barn with her Uncle Wayne. While there, she has the opportunity to participate in an equitation show. The plot never drags but, with the exception of Sid and her uncle, the characters are one-dimensional. Sid is likable and her language is authentic, if a bit rough around the edges. Readers will root for her. She faces many difficulties, including a deceased father, the abusive man, insufficient money, mean girls, and horse injuries, but she overcomes them with little effort. The one situation she fixes on her own is to get rid of her mother's boyfriend, pulling a gun on him instead of getting authorities to intervene. While this is ultimately a feel-good book, it is an additional purchase.-Tammy Turner, Centennial High School, Frisco, TXα(c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. Girls and horses never go out of style. Sidney, 15, has been training and riding horses with her uncle for years. When Sidney’s mother loses her job and Sidney needs to get away from her mother’s abusive boyfriend, she takes a job cleaning out stalls at a show barn. Sidney begins to see another side of the horse world: wealthy riders, famous trainers, and fancy horses. Soon Sidney gets a chance to ride in an upcoming competition—her opportunity to prove that she can be a catch rider (a rider who can ride any horse). Lyne fills her story with details about various breeds, horsemanship, and horse-riding competition, immersing readers into this very specialized world. The setting of a small town that is hard to escape rings just as true. Sidney’s underdog story is a bit predictable, but a subplot involving Sidney standing up to her mother’s boyfriend, as well as her general strength and drive, makes her a character worth rooting for. Should be popular with the large stable of horse fans out there. Grades 5-8. --Sarah Bean Thompson "Lyne delivers a thrilling and moving novel that is a fantastic story for anyone with a big dream and looking for the courage to keep trying." - Richmond Times-Dispatch Great dialogue...solid writing...there's plenty of rich, accurate show circuit detail to make the storyline ring true. (Readers) ...will be swept up by the challenges the resilient Sydney faces in the tack - and out of it." - The Chronicle of the Horse "Everything comes together here—setting, dialogue, horse details and, most impressively, voice—so that the near–fairy-tale ending works; like the rest of the book, it feels absolutely true. A standout." — Kirkus, starred review "Girls and horses never go out of style. . . . Lyne fills her story with details about various breeds, horsemanship, and horse-riding competition, immersing readers into this very specialized world. The setting of a small town that is hard to escape rings just as true." — Booklist Online "For many girls, it isn't truly summer without a great h