Circle C Milestones: Thick as Thieves Review

We were given the opportunity to review the first book in the Circle C Milestones series. The book, Thick as Thieves was written by Susan K. Marlow and published by Kregel Publications. Thick as Thieves is a Christian fiction book which is set in California in the 1880s and gives us a glimpse into the history of ranching and family life.  The Circle C Milestones series follows where the Circle C Adventures left off.

There is also a free 40 page study guide download that contains vocabulary and grammar lessons that go along with the book as well as other  activities.  Below is a sample page from the study guide.

My daughter fell in love with Andrea (Andi) Carter a few years ago when I picked up the Circle C Beginnings series for her at our local homeschool conference, so when we had the chance to get another Andi book we jumped on it. Circle C Milestones continues with Andi, but now she is 14 years old and is faced with new and larger adventures and adversities.  I have been using Thick as Thieves as a read aloud so that all the kids could enjoy it; and enjoy it we have!

Andi’s beloved mare, Taffy, is pregnant and complications arise when the time comes for her to foal.  Then much to Andi’s dismay, school takes up precious time that she would rather be using for foal training and then to make things worse a new, wild-spirited student comes to school.  The wild and mean girl, Marcella (Macy) Walker is even assigned to be Andi’s seatmate. She wonders if life can get any worse.

Along the way, Andi learns some important life lessons when she befriends the rough and tumble newcomer despite the fact Macy nearly kills her.  Andi’s kindness is due in part, to heeding her mother’s advice to “walk a mile in the other person’s shoes.” As she begins to understand why Macy Walker is so mean Andi begins to feel compassion for her.  She also discovers that part of the reason that Macy is so mean is her mean spirited, no good brothers.

The plot thickens when cattle rustlers begin preying upon the local ranches.  Even after hiring extra hands to help guard the stock, The Circle C continues to lose cattle to the rustlers.   Andi isn’t nearly as concerned as her brothers about the missing cattle but when the rustlers start stealing horses that is another matter altogether. Her heart breaks when she learns that her colts were some of the horses taken.  It looks like Andi’s best hope for finding the missing horses is the rough and tumble, Macy. She questions whether she can even trust the girl.

We thoroughly enjoyed reading Thick as Thieves!   Often, at the end of a chapter, I was met with “don’t stop” and ” just one more, PLEASE!”  We will definitely be adding to the series as they are available.  According to the Circle C website, the next book Heartbreak Trail (Circle C Milestones, Book 2) is due to be released in July 2015.  You can read a sample chapter of Heartbreak Trail here.

Blessings,

Jennifer

*I would love it if you would take the time to sign up to receive an email for each post so you don’t miss anything. You can find the “sign me up” button at the top of the blog and enter your email.  Thank you!