One Silver Summer

by Rachel Hickman

Overview

After losing her mom in an accident, Sass is sent to live with her uncle in England. Far from her native Brooklyn, the rocky shores and crumbling castles of Cornwall seem like the perfect place to hide her grief. And when she stumbles across a silver horse in a sunlit meadow, Sass feels a surprising sense of peace . . . only to have it broken by a boy.

Arrogant and distrustful, the horse's trainer, Alex, doesn't approve of the trespassing American. Yet after a few chance meetings, he begins to feel a connection to the curious girl with the sad eyes, and offers to teach her to ride. Sass never expected to feel anything again--least of all love--but the lessons reveal a far different Alex, and soon their friendship turns into something more.

But Alex has a secret--a bombshell about his family that could shatter Sass's trust . . . and force him to abandon the one girl who made him believe in himself.
 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780545808927
Publisher:	Scholastic, Inc.
Publication date:	04/26/2016
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	5.80(w) x 8.30(h) x 1.10(d)
Age Range:	14 Years

About the Author

Rachel Hickman is the Co-Founder of Chicken House, the acclaimed children's book publishing company. She lives in Somerset, England. One Silver Summer is her first novel.

Editorial Reviews

The book opens at an elite British school’s posh summer ball just after Alex has heard from a reporter that his mother and father are splitting up. He should be used to the press having the scoop on his life before he did, but it still hurts enough that he decides to leave the party and his school to go to his grandmother’s house. Then the reader is introduced to Saskia (“Sass”) as she tries desperately to escape the pain and sadness of her own life by running into fields and finally into the neighbor’s pasture, where a beautiful silver horse gives her a grounding moment of peace. With beautiful wordsmithery and imagery, a touch of mystery, and a dreamlike romance, Hickman delivers her story by slowly acquainting readers with the secrets in Alex’s and Sass’s lives. Readers with a polished imagination will feel that they are watching a movie. After the sudden death of her mother, Sass has come to England to live with an uncle she had never met before. Alex is trying to escape his royal responsibilities by living with his grandmother and riding the horses he has grown up with. This is a lovely read that will appeal to girls and boys with a romantic heart. Reviewer: cj Bott; Ages 11 to 18.

VOYA, April 2016 (Vol. 39, No. 1) - cj Bott

04/01/2016
Gr 8 Up—Sass's life has been turned upside down with the recent death of her mother. Relocating from Brooklyn to Cornwall, England, Sass now lives with her Uncle David, a virtual stranger. Saddled with grief, the teen is looking for any kind of connection. She finds it as she learns to ride horses with the help of a local, Alex. Unbeknownst to Sass, Alex is not just a local boy who works in the stables. He is the son of the prince and princess of Wales, who are currently undergoing a paparazzi-plagued divorce. He is skeptical that Sass does not recognize him, but a tentative friendship develops between them despite his worries. Complications arise from a scorned classmate of Alex's and a gossip writer desperate for the latest scandal about the royal couple. Hickman excels at bringing Cornwall to life with her descriptions of the beaches and wild landscape. The growing bond between Sass and her uncle is realistically portrayed, with pitfalls and genuine emotional moments. Unfortunately, the evolving relationship between Sass and her princely love interest is less impressive, going from friendship to true love too quickly. The heroine, though originally from Brooklyn, seems completely British in her language and mannerisms. Characterization is thin and falls into stereotypes, particularly the meddling classmate. VERDICT Even the most devoted fans of commoner and royalty love stories will find this one unsatisfying. Skip and hand them Meg Cabot's "Princess Diaries" series or, for mature teens, The Royal We by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan.—Sarah Wethern, Douglas County Library, Alexandria, MN

School Library Journal

Alexander is a dreading the party downstairs on his secondary school’s ballroom floor. He knows he’s going to be the center to attention; as future heir to the English throne, he always is. But now his parents are divorcing and the news is spreading all over the British Isles—actually, the world. Worst of all he learned of the pending divorce not through his parents, but a rapacious, gossip-mongering reporter. All he wants to do is to escape to his grandmother’s house in Cornwall and hide. However, when he does, he discovers a girl there who seems to be hiding also. Alex is so used to strangers, especially pretty young girls, wanting something from him that he is quite suspicious of the newcomer to his village. Finding her trespassing on his grandmother’s estate makes him even more suspicious. Saskia, a.k.a. Sass, recently orphaned, is now living in the village with her uncle and recovering from her mother’s awful death in Brooklyn, New York. Alex is attracted to her because she seems so innocent and appears to be ignorant of who he is. Sass thinks he’s the stable boy because he’s always out riding horses or cleaning up after them. He teaches her to ride and they spend more and more time together. Sass meets Alex’s grandmother, but does not know whom she is or that she and Alex are related. The plot is nicely convoluted and both Sass and Alex grow emotionally. Though there’s a bit of a fairy tale quality to the story, it’s more about understanding oneself. It is a delightful read with a lovely feel for the Cornwell countryside. Reviewer: Sarah Maury Swan; Ages 12 up.

Children's Literature - Sarah Maury Swan

2016-02-02
A grieving American teen falls for the heir to the British throne. Fifteen-year-old Saskia has lived in Cornwall with her artist uncle since her mother died a few months ago. When she sees an old gray horse in a pasture, she goes toward it and bumps into a boy her age named Alex. Clearly privileged, Alex has done a bunk from boarding school upon learning of his parents' plans for divorce; though the establishment is unhappy with him, Alex is allowed to stay with his grandmother in Cornwall until the furor dies down. Neither readers nor Sass understand at first that Alex is the only child of the current Prince of Wales, second in line to the throne. He teaches Sass to ride, enjoying a relationship stripped of royal complications, until another girl sets up a press hunt that airs the details of Sass' mother's death. Hickman's debut bounces between narrative characters—not only Sass and Alex, but also Plum, the vengeful friend; Cressida, a journalist; the Countess of Trist; and a stable hand (whose lower-class voice presents the only hint of diversity in the book). The writing's smooth, but the surplus narrators end up splintering the focus of the story. Sometimes it's about noblesse oblige, other times horses, other times young love or teenage jealousy. It ends with a moment of high adventure that fails to provide resolution. Sweet, horsey, and inconsistent. (Fiction. 12-16)

Kirkus Reviews