Flip is an 11-year-old boy living in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, when his world gets flipped upside down and he has to move to a Dutch island to live with his uncle. While Flip begins to discovers the joy of country living, he also experiences some loneliness and bullying but one day rescues a horse from the sea who he calls Storm. Now Flip has to work hard at making sure he can keep his new friend, and keep him safe from those trying to harm him.

This is a brilliant middle-grade book and perfect for any one who loves horses or just loves some boyish adventures. Flip is an extremely adorable main character and I really love his character development throughout the book from a meek, mild boy afraid to even talk to his uncle to someone who isn’t afraid of standing up for what he believes in or who. Flip’s connection with horses is extremely enviable and his relationship with Storm is lovely to read about - while i would have loved a bit more of Flip learning to ride, this isn’t that kind of book. It focuses more on the building of relationships and the trust between boy and horse.

This book confronts bullying and Flip does suffer from bullying and intimidation throughout. He learns himself how to stand up for himself and be proud of who he is and i loved it. In typical children’s book form, the bad guys get their comeuppance which was extremely satisfactory. I also enjoyed the inclusion of the ‘Ghost Girl’. She was a bit of mystery added to the book but I really liked her.

I love that this was set in somewhere I’ve never been and somewhere i’m unfamiliar about so just the ways of life, and language was new to me and I loved hearing stories about the island, like the sunken village and the quick sand.

Adventure, friendship and horses. Perfect for fans of The Black Stallion or Black Beauty! Definitely recommend it.