Beautiful, middlegrade story with heart. I loved everything about this book, the horses were magical and I loved hearing about therapy with them. It was a really interesting part of they story that I didn't know a ton on before reading this. I was also impressed with how mature this book, the author knew kids could handle a tougher subject and treated them with respect. Did not dumb anything down. This is something that any child or adult would love.

The Wild Path
5/5 ⭐️ to The Wild Path by Sarah R. Baughman

Thank you so much to Little Brown Young Readers and NetGalley for early access to the ebook!

*Trigger Warning for teen drug abuse, addiction, and recovery*

This was such an amazing and touching story from the very start. Though my family situation is not quite the same as our MC’s, her love of horses and riding, and her closeness to her parents and brother instantly made me feel connected to her. Frankly, she reminded me a lot of myself when I was her age! I adored this story, especially how it was able to weave in such import and complex topics as family, grief, addiction, recovery, and friendship. I don’t think that there are enough middle grades which talk about addiction, recovery, and how it affects families. I so loved how Claire’s family came together to support her brother. I also love how horses and riding play a central role to the story, and how they really help Claire cope with everything. Speaking of, she has a friend, and other kids she meets, that show Claire how sharing your struggles with others helps bring support...so important! Finally, this book had a slight magical-realism element related to a story Claire hears, which adds some whimsy where the book could be too overly “heavy”.

I so highly, highly recommend this book, both for middle grade readers and others who are intrigued by the synopsis. Will be checking out other books by this author, for sure!

This book really took my by surprise! As you can imagine I was drawn in by the horse aspect of the story. But wow, this was so much more than that. This book deals with a lot of heavy topics and touches upon some others as well. The biggest part of the story is dealing with addiction in the family and I loved reading about that through the eyes of 12 year old Claire.

Claire’s brother is sent to rehab and she has trouble reconciling her amazing brother with the person he might become. The author writes about this process beautifully and shows we all need help sometimes. I think this book deals with addiction in a way that kids can understand and learn from. It could be so helpful for kids that have to deal with addiction in their own family.

Claire goes to a support group and while she doesn’t like it at first, she learns what it has to offer and even makes a friend or two along the way. I loved this process! Both her family and best friend are very supportive and I simply loved reading that. Claire also deals with anxiety and I really liked how her parents handled that. You could tell it effected Claire but she also slowly learns to deal with it.

Like I said, I loved the horse aspect. It was all written very well and fit with my experience with horse. Equine therapy is a great way to deal with certain problems and to get to know yourself better. I loved how it was incorporated in the story! The part of the story I liked least were actually the wild horses. To be honest, I didn’t really care about that part and wouldn’t have mind if that was left out or written a bit differently. But all the other horse parts were great!

In the end this is a beautiful book that deals with heavy topics. It’s written really well and I read it super quick. I would love to read more by this author in the future and would highly recommend picking this one up!

4.5 stars

The Wild Path is a beautifully written book that deals with difficult subjects in a way for this age group to understand. I think it may even help children to realize they're not the only one who has had to deal with addiction and how this affects a family as a whole.

Our main character Claire is having a hard time since her brother was sent to rehab after a DUI. This was an interesting aspect of the story. What is addiction? What happens to someone? Why are they at rehab? I feel the author dealt with these subjects in a very age appropriate way. I appreciated the fact that she showed a family doesn't go back to normal when someone goes to rehab and they all need to find their new normal. It was clear Claire has a special relationship with her brother, so this wasn't easy for her. I think through Andy's letters, time with the horses and the support group she goes to were very important to her processing everything.

Horses play a big part in The Wild Path and that made this story very special. I know horses are very sensitive to someone's emotions and I loved how big a part they played during this story. I've heard of equine therapy before and it's really amazing. I loved Claire doing her best to try and win money to keep their horses for equine therapy. I loved the wild horses she found and the story she researches during the book. It felt like this was something Claire needed while processing everything happening at home.

All in all, an amazing story that shows us what happens when a family deals with addiction. I also loved the side characters. The friendships Claire has were amazing and I loved seeing the support group she went to. Making it clear that the addiction wasn't their fault and that they can't change anything is such an important lesson. The author also describes the anxiety Claire is feeling in an interesting way. I would've like to have seen a bit more of this in the book, but it doesn't make it less amazing.

Thank you to Netgalley, the author @sarahbaughman, the publisher, and @tbrbeyondtours for giving me an eARC of The Wild Path, in exchange for an honest review.
#thewildpath #tbrbeyondtours #sarahbaughman
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I absolutely loved this middle grade book about Claire and her love for her horses. The descriptions of being outside in nature pulled at my heart strings. I always said that the feeling could not be described, but it was described perfectly time and again here. Not only was the story a wonderful book about Claire and her horses, but about her family relationships, and her struggles through them.

Favorite Quotes:

"What kind of horse likes to be ridden at night? Nightmares."

"When snow finally comes, always by the beginning of November but usually earlier, it has a swelling silence that goes over everything."

"She says trees show people how long it takes a thing to grow, and how long it can last."

"The sparrows that soar over our barn can actually fly to the tops of clouds, then plunge back to earth. And that's exactly what my flutter feeling is like: It sweeps in from a place beyond me and gets under my skin, shaky as wings."

"People think of fall as a time when everything starts to die, but they just aren't paying attention."

"I watch the mountains roll past, the same shapes as always, but with different colors."

I did not expect to love this book as much as I did, but it thoroughly hit me in the feels. I really enjoyed Claire as a character as she was navigating through dealing with her brother being in rehab for his addiction to pain pills, dealing with anxiety and in general figuring out who she was independently from her brother (or anyone else). I was really in love with how the feeling of anxiety was described throughout the book, Claire likening it to feeling like birds fluttering around her and inside her - though it wasn't immediately called anxiety, I knew exactly what that feeling was.

I also really enjoyed Claire's journey to discovering what she was seeing when she went into the forest and the unwinding mystery that occurred. Claire was really on a journey to find herself and figure out who she wanted to be - as well as come to terms with the truths surrounding her brother's addiction.

I would definitely say there are trigger warnings for anxiety and addiction (and what happens to the loved ones of addicts). I won't lie, I lost my older brother due to a drug related death - so there were parts of this story that hit me between the eyes, especially when Claire was inside her own thoughts, Baughman definitely rings true with the internal conflicts she gave Claire and her family as they tried to navigate their new normal. All in all I absolutely loved this book and Claire's overall journey.

My inner teen was SO EXCITED to get on this tour - I loved anything to do with horses when I was Claire's age. Breyer, Grand Champions, Barbie horses (no Barbies though thanks), any horse book, and any horse movie. I LOVED this book, it took me less than a day to finish it. The Wild Path is so beautiful and realistic in its story that I don't see middle-grade readers struggling to read this book. The Wild Path hits on a couple of tough subjects with Claire - her brother Andy's addiction, his admission into the rehabilitation center, and Claire's anxiety (sparrows).

While Claire is only twelve she is quite mature for her age and so is her best friend, Maya. The two are not the typical "tweens" that make me cringe. They are both smart, dedicated, and mature in the face of the obstacles they encounter within the book. The reactions and conversations held in this story are written in a way that lends even more realism to the characters. The supporting characters are vibrant, full of life, and contribute to the story in their own way - even the ones we see little of. It was honestly so refreshing to read a book where the character struggled with realistic consequences and feelings - how Andy's addiction affected their family and Claire developing anxiety. Throughout the book, Claire slowly discovers the truth of herself and just how strong she really is. Many tidbits surround the impact of her brother's rehabilitation and the wild horses Claire sees in the woods that I honestly didn't see coming.

I could see this book being a fantastic buddy read for middle-grade readers and whoever they'd like to read it with. The Wild Path would be a perfect atmospheric read for September or October with the chill of fall creeping in. I would highly, highly recommend this book to middle-grade readers (and adults) who enjoy books featuring horses, bonds of family, and tough subjects. I'll be purchasing a physical copy of this book to stash for my daughter to read when she reaches the middle-grade level. I would love to thank TBR and Beyond Tours, Little Brown Books for Young Readers (Little, Brown & Company), and Sara R. Baughman for the opportunity to read and review this book for the blog tour- all opinions are my own.

This is the first MG story I have read that I really felt like it depicted the opioid crisis in young adolescents very well. This was an addiction I have seen first hand, I saw kids in my high school struggle with it up through college and adult life. I love how the story is told from Claire’s perspective and how she has to adjust to her brother Andy, the hero of her life - her role model, actually make decisions that harmed him and their family. Claire has to learn to navigate and figure out the truth, but on her own time. All while intertwining a wonderful horse story which leads to an amazing solution.

Thank you to @sarahrbaughman, #BookJunkies, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers for allowing me to be an early reader of The Wild Path by awesome author, Sarah Baughman, in exchange for an honest review. Oh, did I love this book! I read this sad, ultimately hopeful middle grade novel in one day which crushed me and pulled me back to a positive place; I could not put it down! Readers will love Claire; how she deals with the loss of her brother, Andy, the angst of the support meetings she must attend, her quest to find out more about twelve-year-old Jack Hamilton and his horses, and her resolve to win first place in her History Project to save her beloved horses. Claire is truthful, introspective, and doing her best to weather a storm. With parents who care but are dealing with their fear for their son and their inability to pay bills, Claire understands but fears life without her beloved horses, Sunny and Sam. Sarah Baughman’s detail to plot and characters dealing with challenges, the depth of these characters, the beauty of nature, tackling drug addiction and family dynamics, proves this is an authentic book. Claire’s epic struggles with family issues, how she deals with her grief and pain while her brother is in rehab, the imminent loss of her beloved horses and finding an old box containing mysteries, and maybe answers, make this a must-read book!

The Wild Path is a story worth sharing! The main character is relatable and allows the reader into her world in a beautiful way. She shares her reasons, her fears, her thoughts in such a meaningful manner. Her discoveries about her brother and her building of her social skills are endearing. Her parents reactions to things feel realistic, as do her friendships.