KidLit TV is honored to feature
• LIBERTY BISCUIT •
Written by Melanie Sue Bowles
Creating the Books
ABOUT the BOOK
Does a family mystery stand in the way of saving Kip’s best friend?
Katherine Pearl Baker—“Kip” for short—is the only child on her family’s rural peach farm. She longs for a pet to ease the loneliness. Unfortunately, her father has an angry opposition to all animals—horses in particular. Why he dislikes them is a confounding mystery.
Hiding in the woods on the Fourth of July, Kip encounters a bedraggled donkey with one eye and a floppy ear. Immediately smitten and compelled to protect him, she feeds him biscuits and takes him home. When it is discovered the donkey fled an abusive owner, Kip’s father finally relents, reluctantly allowing him to stay.
Kip is elated when her grandfather agrees to help her foster the donkey, who she names “Liberty Biscuit,” along with two emaciated horses removed by the local sheriff from the same home, as the cruelty case goes to court. While caring for the animals, Kip’s happiness is overshadowed by a shocking discovery in a trunk in the family farm’s hayloft—a faded photograph of her father as a boy that reveals secrets long kept.
A court order to return the horses, and even worse, Kip’s beloved Liberty Biscuit, to the owner who had starved and beaten them, throws Kip’s world into turmoil. She knows she must find a way to keep them, or she will have betrayed the best friend she has ever had. But saving the animals means risking the complete unraveling of her family as she exposes the long-buried truth about a tragic accident and a hurt like she’s never known before.
Check out the sequel to Liberty Biscuit: LITTLE PEARL
In this soulful sequel to the crowd favorite Liberty Biscuit, a young teenager learns that no dream ever came true without believing it would.
Katherine Pearl Baker—“Kip” for short—has just gone from being the only child on her family’s rural peach farm to becoming a big sister. As her world and the people in it change in order to welcome a tiny new family member, Kip finds herself afloat, wondering if the place she’s carved out in life is the right one for her, after all.
While wandering one day in the woods she loves, Kip finds an old fence post bearing odd marks that appear to be symbols from a time long ago. Her discovery leads her to once again uncover a family secret and stories as yet untold about the ones she loves. What she learns tests her cherished relationship with her grandfather, as she recognizes a certain kind of loneliness within him for the first time and then must face what the resolution of that loneliness might mean.
Adding a starving horse named “Pearl” to her herd of rescued horses and beloved donkey Liberty Biscuit provides Kip a needed purpose, and the barn becomes her refuge as she struggles with her own uncomfortable secret. Desperate to tell her parents but embarrassed and unsure of how, it takes the return of a boy she trusts for her to finally admit that her path might be different than others planned it would be. The trouble is, Kip isn’t sure she can be brave enough to put her voice to her thoughts and share them.
As the sweet-natured Little Pearl gradually regains her strength and beauty through Kip’s thoughtful care, and the wary and distant Raven begins to trust Kip’s presence and her touch, Kip feels the flame of a new dream flicker to life. With the birth of this dream, a level of understanding grows, not only of her horses, but of her grandfather, and eventually, of herself.
ABOUT Melanie Sue Bowles
Melanie Sue Bowles was born and raised in Michigan – The Mitten State! She earned her living as a firefighter/medic, and was the first female to make it through the rigorous training at the academy she attended. Melanie is also the founder of Proud Spirit Horse Sanctuary. In operation for over 30 years, this award winning organization is one of the most successful, longest existing facilities for at-risk horses in the United States. Melanie and her husband Jim have intervened on behalf of 100s of horses and dozens of other animals. Passionate about literacy, and books and reading, Melanie also loves to write. She is the author of three nonfiction books about Proud Spirit. This collection of stories was inspired by some of the sweet animals who have found their way to the sanctuary. Melanie dreamed about one day writing a book for young people. That dream came true. Her first middle grade novel, LIBERTY BISCUIT, has quickly become a crowd favorite. Loved by both kids and adults. A stand-alone sequel – LITTLE PEARL – will be released in the Fall of 2024. Melanie and her husband are retired now. They have relocated to 50 acres in the foothills of North Carolina, and are still running the sanctuary.
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