Jeanna Sciarrotta (Children's Literature)
Lidie has been waiting five long years to join her father and older brother, Rafael, in New York. When the time finally comes to pack up and leave her Aunt and Uncle in Brazil, Lidie has high expectations for what her American future will hold. None of these expectations, however, include a baby pink bedroom and a family that views her as the little girl she was when they left. Worst of all, they have no idea that she too shares the family passion for horses. America does not seem to hold the answer to all of her wishes and prayers, and life with her father and brother seems far from the homecoming that she imagined. Everything begins to change, however, when her father brings home a new horse--appropriately named Wild Girl--and Lidie begins to find her niche in the family and is slowly able to open up the lines of communication and trust that seemed so closed before. Patricia Reilly Giff will not disappoint her fans with this newest addition to her collection, though the interest in the book will peak with a smaller selection of older elementary and middle school students who share Lidie’s passion for horses. 2009, Wendy Lamb Books/Random House, $15.99. Ages 10 up.

Kirkus (Kirkus Reviews, July 15, 2009 (Vol. 77, No. 14))
Five years ago, when she was seven, Lidie's mother died and her father and brother left to train racehorses in America without her. In Brazil Lidie could quarrel with her cantankerous uncle, sing in her aunt's colorful kitchen or gallop horses up and down the hills, but when she finally gets to America she can't find words to express her anger, longing and frustration. Her well-meaning brother has painted her new room candy pink and decorated it with baby pictures, which she hates, and her silent father buys a broken-down school horse to teach her to ride. At school her lack of English has mortifying consequences. Only in her father's unsettled filly, the aptly named Wild Girl, does she find a kindred spiritùand Lidie begins to think that if only she could ride Wild Girl, everything will be all right. As usual, Giff's characters are beautifully nuanced and entirely real, her prose is as streamlined and efficient as a galloping Thoroughbred and her quiet ending breaks your heart. A stakes winner. 2009, Wendy Lamb/Random, 160p, $15.99. Category: Fiction. Ages 8 to 14. Starred Review. © 2009 Kirkus Reviews/VNU eMedia, Inc. All rights reserved.

Deborah Stevenson (The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, November 2009 (Vol. 63, No. 3))
Five years ago, Lidie’s mother died and her father and brother moved from Brazil to America, leaving Lidie with her uncle and aunt. Now she’s twelve, traveling to New York, and eager to show her horse-trainer father that she’s grown up and become a good rider in her own right. Once there, though, she finds America overwhelming and bewildering, and she’s frustrated that her family sees her as the little girl they left behind years ago. When her father buys a beautiful filly, Wild Girl, Lidie’s determined that her abilities with the young horse will demonstrate to her father that she’s a genuine young horsewoman. This slender volume is at its best when it’s focusing on Lidie’s anxiety and discomfort in a new place where no one, including her family, really understands her, and where she’s constantly underestimated as a result; her truly horrible first school day (wherein language barriers prevent her from getting to the bathroom in time) is all the more believable for the fact that her humiliation is a simple artifact of the situation, not anybody’s sternness or cruelty. The horse story has quite a different texture, though—it’s a romantic and utterly implausible plot that neither meshes with the realistic story nor gives the traditional equestrian fairy tale its full due. Nonetheless, the animal-story element adds appeal, and readers looking for a home-finding story that’s a bit lower-impact than the author’s Pictures of Hollis Woods (BCCB 11/02) may wish to saddle up with Lidie Review Code: Ad -- Additional book of acceptable quality for collections needing more material in the area. (c) Copyright 2006, The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. 2009, Lamb, 145p., $15.99. Grades 4-7.