Reviews for Dude Ranch (Saddle Club Series #6)

The average rating for Dude Ranch (Saddle Club Series #6) based on 2 reviews is 4.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2019-01-20 00:00:00 Keith Shaw I've mentioned this before, but I can't review a Saddle Club book in an unbiased way - they were such a central part of my childhood, I was obsessed with them, and I still reread at least one or two of them each year. On that note, the early books are possibly the strongest, especially in the sense that things followed on from previous books a little more, and they weren't yet stuck in that kind of time loop that eventually took over (I still love those books, it's just the foal Samson, was a fully grown horse in the later books, while the girls themselves had hardly aged a day). Dude Ranch is the first book where they head out west, to The Bar None, a dude ranch they return to a few times over the course of the series. This is the book where they befriend Christine Lonetree, who becomes a recurring character in the books. Christine is Native American, and the girls' preconceived notions of what it means to be 'a real Indian', are a little awkward to read, though they ultimately learn (mild spoiler) that Christine is your typical horse crazy girl, just like them. At times the plot with Christine educating them about this feels a little dated, but I think the overall lesson still holds up - especially the point that old Hollywood movies are not always historically accurate! This a fairly emotionally charged entry to the series, and I always tear up a little about midway through, even though I've read it countless times and know what is coming. If you're not into books about twelve year old girls and their horses, this isn't for you (!), but I've read this at least 30 times and still have not tired of it, so for that I think it's more than earned the five star rating! 🐎

Review # 2 was written on 2019-02-21 00:00:00 Brian Landers I remembered loving the western-based volumes of this series, but boy, I forgot just how dramatic this one got. That whole rattlesnake scene seemed a little... unnecessary? I don't know. Whenever the girls face a life or death circumstance, I get taken out of the reading a little bit because, like, they're twelve. Where are the adults??? Also, the scene with the girls first meet Christine is incredibly cringe-y. I would like to give the book credit for calling out their racist stereotyping, but it also named Christine's horse and a dog Arrow and Tomahawk, respectively, so I'm not sure it really practiced what it preached. But, I guess even having a native character present and especially having the girls assumptions called out like that was pretty impressive for the time period in which this was written. But, wow, it didn't age super well. You can't have your stereotypes and call them out too. That said, it's still a really fun book and the first time we get to leave Pine Hollow, which is a nice change of scenery. But omg, was it normal for three twelve year old girls to fly across the country without an adult????