In her new book The Horse Blanket Girl, Linda Ellis presents readers with an interesting character, the girl called Horse Blanket Girl. She is an orphan who has a horse that was once owned by her Uncle Sid. When the war broke out, they sold the horse and the woman got it for free. Now she uses the horse to run errands and help support herself. But when one of her foster children gets captured and hanged, she must find out what happened to her best friend and determine if it was wrong to kill her.
If you love horses and have fond memories of camping trips, picnics, or times spent riding in your grandmother’s backyard, then the book The Horseblanket Girl: A Memorable Story is for you. It contains a number of true stories about Linda Ellis’ Uncle Sid and the real life horse blankets that she grew up on. Although Horses and Blankets do not go together in the same way that a family unit does, it is clear from the start that this book is meant to be about a horse. And the Blanket Girl is the perfect character for a story that is set around a horse because she can be as goofy and mischievous as any other child your mother might have had. The fact that she has horse clothing isn’t even a distraction, she is so comfortable in it that she barely even notices.
When readers start reading The Horseblanket Girl, the first thing they see is a sixteen year old girl named Ivory who is hanging around the stable. She talks about how her Uncle Sid took her and two other girls to his cabin for a week of horseback riding and camping. But when their horse stumbled upon a dead horse, the girls lost their way and fell into a crevasse. Fortunately, a herd of animals came to help and the girls were rescued and brought back to life. But because of their quick thinking and safe environment, the three girls escaped the woods and returned to Ivory’s house where they started a new life.
That was five years ago. Five years later, a new incident has happened: one of the girls slipped on a mysterious alligator-like creature and sustained serious injuries. She is now in a coma and Ivory has taken over as head of the family. She has to adjust to the changes in her daughter’s life and buy today’s horse blankets. But will she be able to fulfill her duties to her daughter?
The story line for The Horseblanket Girl No Flutter is similar to that of the earlier book. In the first chapter, Ivory’s cousin invites her over to talk to her about the upcoming special day. She tells the girl that she is going to make sure that the day goes perfectly, which just happens to be a horse blanket. The cousin then shows Ivory a beautiful, long, pink, ultra-soft horse blanket. Ivory buys the blanket for her cousin and asks her to take it with her when she comes to visit.
The girl thanks her cousin, but then realizes that the couch she is supposed to sleep on is covered in a very thick, super soft fleece blanket. She decides to sleep on the couch instead. When her cousin arrives to visit, however, the girl quickly notices that the pink, ultra-soft sofa is covered in a very heavy, dark purple fleece blanket. She is instantly disheartened.
That night, as usual, Ivory’s grandmother slips into the guest bedroom while the girl is tucked safely behind a decorative screen. When her grandmother leaves, Ivory immediately takes off her new, tuffrider 600D. She tugs it down and discovers that it is now covered in a dark purple and black fleece blanket. She attempts to kick the thing but finds that she can’t lift it. It is then that Ivory learns that the old sofa is covered in a super soft, warm, dense fleece blanket.
The next morning, the entire family goes for breakfast. When asked who buys the tuffrider 600D, everyone but Ivory replies “My cousin.” After a quick glance at the huge, fluffy seat cushion, Ivory realizes the girl can sleep on it because it is so warm and soft. The rest of the family members are extremely shocked. They each receive a FOUL!