A perfect gift for a tween/teen book lover

I received these books from Mecate Press for review.  Mecate Press is a publishing company that is a division of Ricketts-White Design. They publish a variety of books for children, young adults and adults.  They offer books for purchase and, if you are a writer in need of help, they offer help with the design, writing and/or publishing of your book, and they will help you with the marketing of your book once it is published.  They can provide the personal attention that only a small company can offer and will give you the one-on-one help that you need.

Slater Mountain:  The Journey ($11.95) is written by Judy Ricketts-White and is the winner of the 2017 Moonbeam Children's Book Award!  Bailey Mathews lives with her family on Slater Mountain, at the edge of the wilderness.  Bailey is passionate about horses, her best friends are her horses.  She rides everyday, and studies solid horsemanship principles with her mom, a clinician and horse trainer.  She even documents a herd of wild mustangs.  At fifteen, Bailey's life seems perfect, but her life is about to change forever.  When disaster strikes, her grandpa is injured during a severe storm.  She makes a difficult decision, summons all her courage and skills, and sets out alone, on a dangerous journey, through the rough, back country to get help.

Slater Mountain:  The Legend ($15.95) is written by Judy Ricketts-White and is the sequel to The Journey.  Bailey Mathews and her friend Noah Collins go on a trail ride to observe the herd of wild horses that she has been documenting.  They continue riding and Bailey shows Noah an overlook spot she discovered in the wilderness.  Through strange and dangerous circumstances, the two riders accidentally stumble into a beautiful and forgotten world, and find themselves trapped.  Bailey and Noah need to survive and find a way out.  Noah realizes that he has a connection to the ancient site and shares his knowledge with Bailey.  Will pooling their talents be enough to get them home and help them protect this ancient historical site that provides spiritual inspiration?

These books are very well written and have characters that are very easy to connect with and care about.  My daughters, who are ages 10 and 12, both loved these books, but they aren't just for young readers.  I read them as well and I thoroughly enjoyed them.  They would be excellent gifts for your tween, teen or young adult.  I would love for the story to continue in future books so we can read more about these characters.