Bella's Gift (Bella Sara Series #1) »

Journey to the world of magical horses . . .

The majestic mare Bella must enlist the help of Fiona, Thunder, Jewel, and Nike to save an imprisoned girl and her animal friends from an evil presence in North of North.

Children's Literature

Based on the girls' trading card game by the same name, this first book in the "Bella Sara" series tells the story of Jillian, a young girl abandoned by her parents and trapped into serving the evil Ivenna of Styginmoor Castle. Jillian's only friends are the magical small animals—twinkle imps, tomtommes, and bobolinks—who have been captured as fellow slaves by Ivenna's fearsome wolf guard. Her sole possession is a journal, supposedly left by her parents, in which she draws pictures of her friends and other creatures in the forest. When she is assigned to guard a newly captured pink otter that she sketched only that morning, however, Jillian learns the truth: her journal does not just draw animals, it draws them to her and Ivenna's clutches! Determined to help the creatures she has endangered, Jillian must trust Conall—a mute wolf guard who refuses to participate in the others' atrocities—with a vital mission to contact the magical white mare Bella and rescue her friends. In addition to six new books, the "Bella Sara" universe includes trading cards, stuffed animals, and a web page that allows visitors to "adopt" and "care for" horses using codes provided with merchandise. Brown's first novel, featuring traceable pencil illustrations of magical horses and other creatures, will be eagerly welcomed by followers of the game. It also stands credibly as a story in its own right, although little history is provided abut the horses, and the majority of its conflicts are resolved in a rapid, card-trumps-card fashion. While the book's heavy female focus—heroes are pink, sparkly, and jeweled—may preclude it from general classroom use, it could be an ideal enticementto reluctant readers drawn to other aspects of the "Bella Sara" world. Reviewer: Cara Chancellor