By R. J. Palacio
A frontier ghost story about a twelve-year-old who rides off alone to rescue the father three men took from him in the night.
Three men come for Silas's father in the middle of the night and ride off with him. The next morning one of their horses trots back alone, and Silas, who is twelve, climbs on and follows the trail into the woods to bring his father home. His only company is a boy named Mittenwool, who happens to have been dead for years. Silas has always been able to see the dead.
It landed on a horse shelf because there's a pony on the cover, and a horse book is not what this is. It's a ghost story and a rescue with a horse as the way in. If your child has aged out of gentle pony stories and wants real danger and a mystery that keeps pulling them along, this is a gripping one, and it comes from the same author who wrote Wonder. If they came looking for more horses, they'll be let down, so it's better to know that before you hand it over. It suits an older reader who doesn't mind being scared.