About the author
According to her mother, author Lauraine Snelling’s first words were “Read to me.” Whether she did or not isn’t recorded, but whatever she did, Lauraine has had a lifelong love of books. She first began writing as the mother of three teenagers; she wanted to write “horse books for kids”. Her first book, Tragedy on the Toutle (1982), looked at the aftermath of the St Helen’s volcano, and was followed by two ten-book horse series, with heroines at different ends of the teenage age range: 16 and 13. Both girls have a lot with which to contend. 16-year-old Tricia wants to be a jockey, but has to contend with her father’s worsening health and eventual death, and the appalling difficulties of dealing with it. 13-year-old DJ, heroine of the High Hurdles series, doesn’t have quite such monumental events to deal with, but she does have to cope with something common to many children now; family breakup and the difficulties of adapting to new relationships, reappearing parents, and living in a blended family. Both series deal with competition, but both also include the heroines’ struggles with their faith.
All Lauraine’s books spring from her faith, and she has now expanded into adult romance novels (the horsey ones of which are listed at the end of the bibliography). To date, she’s written around 70 books, and she now passes on her skills to others through teaching at writers’ conferences.
Finding the books
The horse series are still in print, now collected into volumes of five stories each. Other novels are in print, or are available on Kindle.
Links and sources
Lauraine Snelling’s website
Series
The Golden Filly
The Race Eagle’s Wings
Go for the Glory
Kentucky Dreamer
Call for Courage
Shadow Over San Mateo
Out of the Mist
Second Wind
Close Call
The Winner’s Circle
High Hurdles
Olympic Dreams
DJ’s Challenge
Setting the Pace
Out of the Blue
Storm Clouds
Close Quarters
Moving Up
Letting Go
Raising the Bar
Class Act
Bibliography (horse books only)
The Race
Bethany House Publishers, Minneapolis, 1990, pb, 157 pp.
Tricia has always loved horses, and her father’s training her to compete professionally. However, Tricia’s mother’s worried about her schoolwork, and the
danger of riding. Then Tricia’s life is turned upside down when her father receives
a diagnosis from the hospital. The children try to run the ranch, but then some of the horses get sick, and Tricia’s schoolwork suffers. How can she trust in God when He’s seemingly forgotten her father?
Eagle’s Wings
Bethany House Publishers, Minneapolis, 1991
There aren’t many horses with Derby potential, but Spitfire is one of them, and
Tricia is the only one who can handle him. But even though he’s won The Race at The Meadows, the odds are still against them winning the Portland Futurity. There are plenty of other worries: Tricia’s father has gone back to hospital, and it’s not easy trying to run the ranch and do schoolwork too. When the striker goes for Spitfire, the results could be devastating.
Go for the Glory
Bethany House Publishers, Minneapolis,1991
Everything looks as if it’s going well for Tricia, and her father enters them for the Santa Anita Derby. But then everything seems to go wrong, including an accident for Tricia.
Kentucky Dreamer
Bethany House Publishers, Minneapolis, 1991
Tricia’s entered for the Kentucky Derby – she’s doing really well, but then her father needs more chemotherapy, Spitfire’s knee is dodgy, and there’s something wrong with Tricia’s mother.
Call for Courage
Bethany House Publishers, Minneapolis, 1992
Tricia’s racing career is going well. Her father, who’s growing ever weaker, has taught her courage – will she be able to use it?
Shadow over San Mateo
Bethany House Publishers, Minneapolis, 1993, pb, 155 pp.
Trisha and her horse Spitfire have just won the Belmont Classic. Trish is the first woman to do it, but Trish’s father, unknown to her, has died during the race. Trish is overwhelmed by grief.
Out of the Mist
Bethany House Publishers, Minneapolis, 1993, pb, 158 pp.
Trisha has undergone a long losing streak during the summer, and is ready to give up racing. If she doesn’t win Firefly’s last race, she decides she will quit racing. Her chemistry tutor offers her a solution – a handful of pills.
Second Wind
Bethany House Publishers, Minneapolis, 1994, pb, 173 pp.
Trisha is back home in Portland and ready for a fresh start. She’s ready for the upcoming racing season, but then hears rumours of corruption in the track’s management.
Close Call
Bethany House Publishers, Minneapolis, 1994, pb, 176 pp.
After a shaky start, the Portland Meadows racing season is up and running. The Chrysler Corporation want Trisha to be their spokesperson, and everything seems to be going well, but then Trisha has a series of threatening letters and phonecalls.
The Winner’s Circle
Bethany House Publishers, Minneapolis, 1995, pb, 192 pp.
Trish has had a tragic accident and is battling to overcome it. The person who caused her accident is still sending her threats and Trisha finds herself in a desperate race for life.
Olympic Dreams
Bethany House Publishers, Minneapolis, 1995, 155 pp.
13-year-old DJ Randall is desperate to be an Olympic show jumper. There’s just
one problem – she doesn’t have a horse.
DJ’s Challenge
Bethany House Publishers, Minneapolis, 1995, 160 pp.
DJ’s relationship with her mother isn’t going well. Her riding is, now that she has her horse Major. However, DJ’s mother drops a bombshell. They’re going to move, and they can’t take Major.
Setting the Pace
Bethany House Publishers, Minneapolis,1996, 173 pp.
DJ’s mother is engaged to marry someone who already has two children. DJ’s not impressed, and turns to the riding academy for support. However, nasty Tony Andrada has started there, and he seems to have picked out DJ’s friend Hilary for his nasty brand of racist abuse.
Out of the Blue
Bethany House Publishers, Minneapolis, 1996, 173 pp.
DJ’s never met her father, but he’s suddenly turned up. How will that go? DJ’s mother isn’t impressed, and DJ’s not sure what to think.
Storm Clouds
Bethany House Publishers, Minneapolis, 1997, 173 pp.
DJ’s mother’s about to get married, and DJ goes to stay with her father and his wife and their Arabian horses. They understand DJ and her love for horses in a way it seems her mother doesn’t.
Close Quarters
Bethany House Publishers, Minneapolis, 1998, 159 pp.
DJ’s mother is now married, and the whole new family has to squeeze into their tiny house while they wait for the new one to be ready. Tensions erupt, particularly when DJ’s art is threatened by a horse show.
Moving Up
Bethany House Publishers, Minneapolis, 1998, 157 pp.
The new house is almost ready, but DJ has mixed feelings about leaving the place where she grew up. Riding’s going well however, and she’s amazed at the support she gets for it from her whole family.
Letting Go
Bethany House Publishers, Minneapolis, 1999, 160 pp.
There’s support for DJ from her whole family for her Olympic ambitions, but she’s told that to realise them, she needs another horse. Can she move on from Major to the marvellous horse her father’s found?
Raising the Bar
Bethany House Publishers, Minneapolis, 1999, 154 pp.
DJ has found God’s plan for her, and is moving towards Olympic gold. However,
she’s not sure if her new horse, Herndon, and she will ever fit together the way she
did with Major.
Class Act
Bethany House Publishers, Minneapolis, 2000, 174 pp.
DJ’s hands were terribly burned in a fire, and she faces agonising treatment. She’s lost any desire to compete, and with the Olympics imminent, her biggest hurdle is getting on a horse again.
What About Cimarron?
Journey Forth, 2008, 84 pp.
Originally published as Tragedy on the Toutle
Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, 1982, 216 pp.
Sarah loves the beautiful valley where she lives. They are all used to occasional
tremors from nearby Mount St. Helens. But the worst happens: the volcano erupts, and the family have to leave at speed, leaving everything behind, including Sarah’s horse, Cimmaron. Sarah wonders why God has allowed hot ash and mud to cover her beautiful valley.
Secondhand Horses
With Kathleem Damp Wright
Barbour Publishing, 2013, 160 pp.
The S.A.V.E. Squad are Sunny, Aneta, Vee and Esther, four sixth grade girls who come together to save a zoo, and a miniature horse. Part of a series, the other titles of which (thus far) are not horsey.
Adult novels
Race for the Roses
Heartsong Presents, Ohio, 1999, 170 pp.
Thorndike Press, 2007, Large Print
Mission Books, 2012
Robynn O’Dell is a talented jockey who risks her life everyday. Her husband walked out on her and her young son, and was then killed in a crash. Robynn can’t trust again, until she meets Dane Morgan. Will the two discover what God has planned for them? Adult novel.
The Gift
Mission Books, 2002
Mission Books, 2012
Turner McNeally’s daughter has gone to college, and her horse misses here. Rebecca’s son hasn’t spoken since his father died; the family counsellor suggests getting a pet. This is a story of holiday romance.
