About the author
Chris Platt was educated at the University of Nevada, Reno, where she studied journalism. She was one of the first female jockeys in the state of Oregon and has owned horses all her life. Not surprisingly, she specialises in writing about horses. She contributed several titles to Joanna Campbell’s Ashleigh series, a spin off from the Thoroughbreds series. (These titles are listed at the foot of the page). Since then, she’s written titles in her own right, all of which appear to have 13-year-old girls as their heroines.
Finding the books
Easy to find.
Links and sources
Chris Platt’s website (link no longer works)
Thank you to Lisa Catz for summaries and pictures
Series
Willow King
Willow King
Race the Wind
Joanna Campbell Thoroughbreds series
Written by Chris Platt
Ashleigh 5: The Forbidden Stallion
Ashleigh 7: Derby Day
Ashleigh 8: Lost Foal
Ashleigh 9: Holiday Homecoming
Ashleigh 10: Derby Dreams
Ashleigh 11: Ashleigh’s Promise
Ashleigh 12: Winter Race Camp
Ashleigh 13: The Prize
Ashleigh 14: Ashleigh’s Western Challenge
Ashleigh 15: Stardust’s Foal
Bibliography
Willow King
Random House, 1998, 193 pp.
Peachtree, Atlanta, 2010
A Thoroughbred foal is born with its legs too crooked to race, and his owner orders him destroyed. But Katie, who has a disability of her own, can’t bear to let this happen. She trades her prize horse Jester to the obnoxious Cindy Ellis in exchange for the colt, and takes Willow King to a remote pasture and begins training him in secret.
Race the Wind!
Random House, 2000, 221 pp.
Katie has been physically challenged, having been born with one leg shorter than the other. She feels that she is always having to prove herself to people. Now that Willow King is grown and strong, Katie wants to be the one to race him. She is determined to prove that he is a champion, and equally determined to prove that she is capable of riding him in America’s biggest race, the Kentucky Derby.
Moon Shadow
Peachtree, Atlanta, 2006, 164 pp.
Callie is thirteen. She’s determined to save a beautiful but sickly mustang filly after she’s
orphaned during a round up in the Nevada Desert.
Storm Chaser
Peachtree Publishers, Atlanta, 2009, 172 pp
Thirteen-year-old Jessica Warner is looking forward to a summer of fun, riding her horse Rustyand spending time with her friend, Marybeth. But when a fire destroys their barn, the working ranch has to become a dude ranch. Rusty survives the fire but can no longer be ridden, and Jessica disobeys her father by working with a wild paint filly she calls Storm Chaser. When the first group of dudes come to the ranch, Jessica’s life becomes complicated, especially when a
spoiled young guest is determined to own Storm Chaser.
Astra
Peachtree, Atlanta, 2010, 146 pp
Lily, who is thirteen, has been forbidden to ride: her mother died in a riding accident. Now she nurses her mother’s beloved Arabian, hoping that someday Astra will win the Tevis Cup endurance race.
Star Gazer
Peachtree, Atlanta, 2011, 164 pp.
Thirteen-year-old Jordan’s new horse Star Gazer has been neglected and has a lot to
overcome, but nevertheless Jordan vows to beat Star Gazer’s former owner in the state
championships at the end of the summer.
