Eleven-year-old Addie has been taken to a rural farm in Exmoor, to stay with a foster family whilst her mum gets help in looking after herself and her daughter. Addie is angry and upset to be apart from her mum and doesn’t want to be at the farm. She hopes it is just for one night, but one night turns into weeks and then months.

Gabe, the son of the couple who runs the farm finds a foal in the snow and manages to get it into a barn but it refuses to feed. Addie helps Gabe out with the foal as she knows what it is like to be separated from your mother. In time the foal begins to trust Addie. However, Addie isn’t happy that there are rules about the foal’s heritage which will decide whether it will be returned to the moors and its mother or not. She is determined that she will reunite the foal with its mother, as well as being reunited with her own.

Snow Foal is such a beautiful, irresistible novel. It is a novel that you will take into your heart and hold dear. The subject matter is very touching and the writing leaves you feeling as if you are reading about real events.

The characters are so realistic and their personal stories may have you reaching for the tissues. As well as Addie we have teenager Gabe who is the adopted son of the couple, Ruth and Sam who foster the children. We also have little six-year-old Jude who doesn’t speak and Sunni who is resentful of Addie being there and sharing her bedroom.

The whole story is just so lovely to read and makes you think about what some children go through in their young lives. I was especially touched by Jude who has been through so much and carries so many emotions around with him daily.

Although this is a middle-grade novel, I believe that it is something that YA readers and adults will love too, just like I did.

About the Author

Sue grew up in Northern England, close to purple moorland and long, silvery beaches. Books were her earliest friends. She learned the joy of ‘making things’ from her wonderfully creative mother, who was a great weaver of tales. She drew fabulous pictures to illustrate her ideas, and encouraged Sue to do the same. When small, Sue often made up stories and brought them to life, with paper people on cardboard theatre stages.

Sue has seen just how helpful stories – and animals – can be when children (and adults) are confused, sad, or afraid. She has learned about the healing power of nature; of wild, quiet, green spaces. Seven years ago, she decided to see if she could write about these things, and went to university to study creative writing. In 2016, Sue was awarded the Bath Spa University Undergraduate Prize for Writing for Young People. The following year, she graduated, with distinction, from Bath Spa’s wonderful MA Writing for Young People. Her MA Novel, Snow Foal, was shortlisted for the 2017 Joan Aiken Future Classics Prize, and given ‘honourary mention’ in the United Agents/Bath Spa University Prize for the same year.

Sue now lectures part-time in Creative Writing.

What did you think of Snow Foal? Share your thoughts in the comment section below!