Joanna Campbell
Joanna Campbell (1946-
Joanna Campbell wrote at least two more horse books before embarking on the Thoroughbred series: A Horse of Her Own (1988) and The Wild Mustang (1989). The first Thoroughbred book was A Horse Called Wonder, published in 1991.
Ah, the Thoroughbred series. They do long series, the Americans: epic 50 book plus efforts, putting our paltry British 20 book attempts in the shade. The big difference between most British series, and the very long American ones is that although they may have been started off by the author whose name is on the front of the book, they have rarely been carried on by them, and who can blame them? Once you have started a successful series, being wedded to it for upwards of a hundred books sounds more like a life sentence than a liberating and creative lifestyle, and publishers are of course loathe to give up their handy moneyspinner.
The answer is to carry on the series, but to farm it out to other authors. This
is a lesson Britain has at last taken on board, with Ben Baglio, an American book
packager, and Rod Ritchie, managing director of Hodder before it merged with Headline
creating the long and multi-
Still, up there with the Saddle Club is the Thoroughbred series, with 72 titles in the Thoroughbred series proper, 4 special editions, a prequel spin off series of 15 titles, and the Ashleigh’s Thoroughbred series, which I believe are supposed to be horse books Ashleigh read.
Joanna Campbell wrote the first 14 books, and a few of the sequels, but the majority of the series was farmed out to other authors. Besides Joanna Campbell, the series has been written by: Karen Bentley, Alison Leonhardt (Alison Hart), Allison Estes, Karle Dickerson, Dale Blackwell Gasque, Lois Symanski, Brook James, Mary Newhall Anderson, Jennifer Chu and “Brook James”. The series’ focus has changed as it developed: Ashleigh, the original heroine, grows up during the series, marries and has a child, Christina. After book 23, the books move forward in time 10 years, and focus on Christina and her friends. The spin off Ashleigh series deals with Ashleigh’s childhood before the start of the Thoroughbred books. The last book was published in 2005, but the series has maintained its popularity, with a blog devoted to reviewing every book in the series going strong. An unsubstantiated statistic in Wikipedia states that over 2 million titles have been printed.
I’m afraid the Saddle Club defeated me and I merely linked to other sites who put up the information on the books far better than I did, and I am going to do exactly the same thing with Thoroughbreds. If you want to know about Thoroughbreds, you can do no better than follow the Whitebrookfarm blog. They have reviewed almost all the Thoroughbreds series, and most of the other books, and if you click the titles, Whitebrookfarm is where you will go.
Finding the books: it’s reasonably easy to find all the titles, both in the USA and the UK
Links and Sources:
Whitebrookfarm -
Wikipedia on Joanna Campbell and the Thoroughbred series
Kids Reads on the Thoroughbred series
A little biographical information
Early books by Joanna Campbell
1. The Thoroughbred -
Bantam Books, 1981, Sweet Dreams Romance series
2. A Horse of Her Own -
3. The Wild Mustang -
The Thoroughbred Series
1. A Horse Called Wonder -
2. Wonder’s Promise -
3. Wonder’s First Race -
4. Wonder’s Victory -
5. Ashleigh’s Dream -
6. Wonder’s Yearling -
7. Samantha’s Price -
8. Sierra’s Steeplechase -
9. Pride’s Challenge -
10. Pride’s Last Race -
11. Wonder’s Sister -
12. Shining’s Orphan -
13. Cindy’s Runaway Colt -
14. Cindy’s Glory -
15. Glory’s Triumph -
16. Glory in Danger -
17. Ashleigh’s Farewell -
18. Glory’s Rival -
19. Cindy’s Heartbreak -
20. Champion’s Spirit -
21. Wonder’s Champion -
22. Arabian Challenge -
23. Cindy’s Honor -
24. The Horse of Her Dreams -
25. Melanie’s Treasure -
26. Sterling’s Second Chance -
27. Christina’s Courage -
28. Camp Saddlebrook -
28. Melanie’s Last Ride -
30. Dylan’s Choice -
31. A Home for Melanie -
32. Cassidy’s Secret -
33. Racing Parker -
34. On the Track -
35. Dead Heat -
36. Without Wonder -
37. Star in Danger -
38. Down to the Wire -
39. Living Legend -
40. Ultimate Risk -
41. Close Call -
42. The Bad Luck Filly -
43. Fallen Star -
44. Perfect Image -
45. Star’s Chance -
46. Racing Image -
47. Cindy’s Desert Adventure -
48. Cindy’s Bold Start -
49. Rising Star -
50. Team Player -
51. Distance Runner -
52. Perfect Challenge -
53. Derby Fever -
54. Cindy’s Last Hope -
55. Great Expectations -
56. Hoofprints in the Snow -
57. Faith in a Long Shot -
58. Christina’s Shining Star -
59. Star’s Inspiration -
60. Taking the Reins -
61. Parker’s Passion -
62. Unbridled Fury -
63. Starstruck -
64. The Price of Fame -
65. Bridal Dreams -
66. Samantha’s Irish Luck -
67. Breaking the Fall -
68. Kaitlin’s Wild Ride -
69. Melanie’s Double Jinx -
70. Allie’s Legacy -
71. Calamity Jinx -
72. Legacy’s Gift -
Super Editions
Ashleigh’s Christmas Miracle -
Ashleigh’s Diary -
Ashleigh’s Hope -
Samantha’s Journey -
The Ashleigh Series
1. Lightning’s Last Hope -
2. A Horse for Christmas -
3. Waiting for Stardust -
4. Good-
5. The Forbidden Stallion -
6. A Dangerous Ride -
7. Derby Day -
8. The Lost Foal -
9. Holiday Homecoming -
10. Derby Dreams -
11. Ashleigh’s Promise -
12. Winter Race Camp -
13. The Prize -
14. Ashleigh’s Western Challenge -
15. Stardust’s Foal -
Ashleigh’s Thoroughbred Collection
1. Star of Shadowbrook Farm -
2. The Forgotten Filly -
3. Battlecry Forever! -
