Initiation (Canterwood Crest)

My daughter has "graduated" from Pony Pals and Pony Days, Magic Ponies and Magic Pony, etc, but not yet ready for some of the older series. She is in 4th grade and around an RL 5.6, so we wanted more challenging but not grown up. The manager at Barnes and Noble recommended Book 1 to her and she read it and was hooked, so we got the rest of the series for her for Christmas. She is on book 5 and I imagine, since it a new series, that the books will retain resell value, although she plans to keep this series to re-read again whenever she wants to. The nice and not-so-nice thing about this series is that it does deal with real life bullying, mean girl and social issues, which is a big step from the fluffier children's pony books of 1st-3rd grade that she was reading, but since she has had to deal with some issues at riding school, she likes to bury herself in these books as a way to unwind. I like that she talks to me about what is happening in the books.

My 12-year-old daughter loves this book series. She's not even a horse fanatic! The plots, the characters... really appeal to her. She is an advanced reader and often chooses much more difficult reading materials. That's not to say these are too easy. They are just a fun, not overly demanding read for her. She specifically asked for books from this series for Christmas. For some reason, our library has some of the books but is hit and miss and have left holes in their collection. I would definitely recommend this series for tween girls.

old read

@sasha I disagree with you completely. this was one of the best books of my life.I understand that this book may be unrealistic for a 12year old, but, I'm eleven and I have a boy friend.Also, have you EVER fallen off a horse?? NO!?Well, I have and it HURT, bad.And I wasn't even jumping.Not only does it HURT, it. Is. SCARY.! 😭😡😾🙅So, to wrap it all up, I don't agree. I want JB to write even more books.

I bought this book on my kindle the day it came out and finished it the same day. Although I was quite impressed with CHOSEN, Initiation wasn't what I expected it to be. I wish Jessica didn't leave a huge cliff hanger at the end. I also really wanted to know info about other characters like Drew since burkhart did not really bring him in as much. Also something I observed after reading Unfriendly Competition again was that if Sasha were to talk to Laurent in POPULAR at the beginning of the year, it was never mentioned in Sasha's series. This also made me more confused when Sasha talked to Lauren when it was around November time and Lauren seemed like she came late in the year.

I love Canterwood Crest because it is all about girls who figure out problems and go through life together. It is a great way to learn how to make self confidence. Especially with Lauren Towers.🤩😜😘

My daughter just loves this series. She is upset she is on the last one. Good for any teenage / preteen horse loving girl! She wishes this place actually exists. Purchase this series for your daughter and let her imagination go wild!

If you have a daughter or niece or a grandchild I highly recommend this book. I've been reading the whole series and it is truly a master piece but is only good for girls in 5-8 grade.

Daughter loves these books! Arrived quickly.

I chose this rating because it is really gd for someone who loves horses I recommend it for who likes a story involved with horses

...the reason being, I haven't read it. It was bought for my 9 year old daughter - who will gladly read anything that contains a sniff of something horsey.Now, she says it was "a good book and she enjoyed it". When I tried to draw her on the characters, the plot and description...she said it was "a good book and she enjoyed it - and what did I mean by those other things".So...i'm going to give this an I-like-it four stars on the basis that a) she read it from cover to cover and b) it kept her quiet for approximately 4 hours. I'm of the opinion that any reading at her age is good and she's going through all of these with gusto.On the face of it - me telling you it's a good book based on her feedback is just as subjective as me telling you it's a good book based on my feedback....so you're always going to be taking a bit of a risk!

The book was great but it was only 1 week of Laurens life. I found that a bit short to be honest.