What's the Name of That Book??? discussion

I read a book in middle school, say in the year 1992, about a young girl who had a white horse and had to sneak out one night to ride it. There might have been some sort of jewelry theft involved.

I read it for a sixth-grade school assignment, where I was required to pick a book that my school library classified as in the mystery genre. I chose this book because of the horse element, and the book probably had a picture of the girl riding her horse on the cover.

I'm almost sure the title of the book was "Name-of-girl-beginning-with-the-letter-Zee 's Ride". My memory keeps insisting this title is "Zlata's Ride", but I seem to be pulling the spelling of that name from the memoir Zlata's Diary -- a book I also read maybe a year or two later, but which doesn't have any plot similarities to the story I'm looking for.

I've tried looking at lists of baby names to see if any of the Z names seem familiar, but I haven't had any luck with that. There are a lot of middle-eastern girls' names starting with Z, and they all sound fabulously exotic and interesting. I didn't recognize any of them. I'm not even 100% sure that middle eastern is the correct ethnicity I should be searching for; I just have the faint memory the horse was an Arabian, the night ride took place in a desert, and the girl's culture was patriarchal.

I've been doing a lot of searching for it, and I can tell you for sure that it isn't:

I Rode a Horse of Milk White Jade by Diane Lee Wilson
Rider by Night by Karin Anckarsvard
The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge

And I don't think it's The White Riders by Monica Edwards, either, although I haven't had any luck in locating a reading copy to make absolutely sure of this.

Do these scant details ring a bell with anyone?

Not Middle Eastern, but maybe it's Night Mare by Vicki Kamida?

I... I actually have Kamida's book right here in my house, and I've just read through it.

:( It isn't the one I'm looking for.

How about:
Not on a White Horse by Nancy Springer (1988) - The girl's name was Rhiannon, which is unusual, her horse is an Arabian, and the story may have taken place in a desert state like Arizona.

There are a couple of books in the Thoroughbred series by Joanna Campbell, one being Cindy's Desert Adventure, where Cindy goes to Saudi Arabia to ride in a race, and part of the plot involved the patriarchal society questioning her abilities as a female jockey. Published in 2001 though.

There's also:

The Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis, I think there is a girl involved, and that part of Narnia is very middle-eastern sounding/looking with deserts. The girl's name was Aravis and the boy's name was Shasta.

Also, King of the Wind: The Story of the Godolphin Arabian or some of the Black Stallion books that took place in the middle east, although I don't recall any about white horses with girls...

The Springer, Lewis, Henry, and Farley books are great favorites of mine, and no, none of those suggestions are quite right. The Springer book took place in an Appalachian mining town, I think in Pennsylvania (that's another one I have at hand). There was only one Farley book that had a female main character, The Black Stallion and the Girl, but aside from the gender of the character none of the story details match.

I'm not familiar with that particular book by Campbell, but I read the earlier books in her Thoroughbred series and I don't think it's right either.

I do not recall the impression that the book I'm looking for was part of a series. And I don't recall any fantasy elements, such as the horse being able to talk.

um, a MUCH older book featuring a white horse (and 1 suspected, wrongly tho-jewel theft) is Airs Above the Ground by Mary Stewart.

The copy of the book that I have has Mary Stewart's name before the title, so it almost looks like the title is MARY STEWART AIRS ABOVE THE GROUND.

While this doesn't sound totally like yours, it is still a really good story.

Oh, I have Stewart's book, too! I love her works. You are right though, about this one not quite matching. I'll keep looking.

I added description to The White Riders but it unlikely you would have come across that if you are American. The author is virtually unknown in the US.

>9: Then no wonder I haven't been able to request a copy of it from my local library!

Huh. I would have said it was the short story "The Summer of the Beautiful White Horse" from "My Name is Aram" by William Saroyan

No, I'm afraid the protagonist was definitely female.

I think I've found it! Ride, Zarina, Ride by Jean Bothwell (1966), summary.

I'll have to find a reading copy to confirm, which could be tricky as the book is a little obscure, but I'm reasonaly sure this title is correct. Yay!

M-, That's good news. I hope that it's the book.