Blue Ribbon Summer Read Online Free Page A

Foxy unless he was complaining about how much she cost to keep.
    And now this! Brooke was touched that her stepfather had thought of doing something like this for her. Sure, it had kind of fallen into his lap. But he could have ignored the open spot at horse camp and bought her a new cellphone or something else instead. After all, a two-week horse camp couldn’t be cheap.
    Two weeks. The thought of it struck her suddenly, causing her stomach to tighten so much, she put down her fork and swallowed hard to keep the bite of potato she’d just eaten from coming back up. Two whole weeks. Brooke had never spent more than a night or two away from her family before, and now she was supposed to spend two weeks all alone in a strange place.
    But I won’t be alone, she thought. Foxy will be there with me.
    That made her feel better, but only a little. She needed to “speak” to her Pony Post friends—and now she had much bigger news to share than her silly self-training plans!
    â€œMay I be excused?” she asked, pushing her plate away.
    Her stepfather looked up from shoveling chicken into his mouth. “Sure thing, honey,” he said. “Better get upstairs and start packing, eh?”
    â€œYeah.” Brooke smiled back. “Thanks again, Dad.”
    Upstairs, she pulled out her laptop and logged on tothe Pony Post. She was surprised to see that all three of her friends’ names had little green dots glowing next to them. That meant they were all logged in to the site right now! That didn’t happen very often unless they all set up a time beforehand, since they were in three different time zones.
    Brooke quickly started typing, not wanting any of her friends to log off before she got her news out.
    [BROOKE] Hi all! Guess what?
    [MADDIE] BROOKE! Was wondering where u were all day. What’s up?
    [HALEY] Hi Brooke! How’s Foxy?
    [NINA] Hey B! Is it hot where you are? B/c it’s hotter than Hades here in NOLA.
    [HALEY] Isn’t it always hot there? lol
    [BROOKE] Hot here too. But listen, I have big news.
    [HALEY] What?
    [MADDIE] Spill!
    [NINA] Is it about Foxy?
    [BROOKE] Yes, sort of. My stepdad just gave me a big surprise—he’s sending me & Foxy to riding camp!
    [MADDIE] 2 COOL!
    [NINA] Is it a sleepaway camp?
    [BROOKE] Yes, for 2 wks.
    [HALEY] That’s amazing! I did riding camp last summer, but it was only day camp at my dressage trainer’s barn.
    [NINA] I’ve never done a riding camp, but I’ve been to sleepaway art camp and it was the BESTBESTBEST thing ever!
    [MADDIE] I’ve been to soccer camp a few times. Rly fun! But riding camp? I’m super-jealous!!!!!
    [HALEY] Me too! You’re going to learn sooooo much!
    Brooke smiled as she read over her friends’ comments. They were making her feel less nervous already, mostly because she’d realized something. This was a riding camp, which meant all the other campers would be just as horse crazy as she was. Maybe she’d meet some girls like her Pony Post friends!
    Well, not exactly like them, of course. They were all one of a kind. But if Brooke imagined spending two weeks with girls almost like Nina, Maddie, and Haley, the whole idea of camp suddenly seemed a lot less scary—and a lot more fun.
    [BROOKE] Yah, I can’t wait. This should be the perfect chance for me & Foxy to get more real training.
    [HALEY] Xlnt! What will u be working on?
    [MADDIE] More jumping maybe?
    [BROOKE] I’m not sure—I don’t rly know anything about the camp yet. But remember Foxy is still pretty green, so I’m sure whatever we work on will be good for her. And me, too!
    They all chatted for a few more minutes, and then Nina had to log off to set the table for dinner, and Haley needed to go feed her pony. Brooke and Maddie said good-bye, too.
    After she logged off the Pony Post site, Brooke pulled up a search engine and typed in the name of the camp. Camp Pocomoke had a website, but