Request #657 from Robin

Okay, these ones have been haunting me for years:

1. Read in the early 1980s,  a YA novel about a very shy, socially introverted teenage girl. She has brown eyes and very poor eyesight. In one scene, she visits an optometrist who tells her that people with eyes as beautiful as hers often have weak vision. The main plot follows her after she somehow acquires a red setter, which she trains herself. Through walking the dog, she meets a boy. During their first meeting, he asks for the dog’s name, but she mistakenly thinks he’s asking for her own name and becomes embarrassed. Either the girl or the dog is named Robin.

2. Read in the early-mid 1980s, a YA novel set in the U.K. The main character is a girl from a wealthy family who lives on a horse farm and loves riding. As part of a some kind of charity/social outreach program, her parents agree to host an underprivileged girl from a rough London neighbourhood, possibly named Marlene, so she can spend some time away from negative influences in the city.

Marlene is described as “tough as old boots,” and the main character initially dislikes her because she’s so different from her usual circle of friends. At one point, Marlene saves up enough money to buy a piece of horse equipment, a martingale, used for training. Despite her background, Marlene shows a natural talent with horses and may even become a better rider than the main character, jealously abounds! The story is bittersweet: when Marlene’s stay ends, she must return to her difficult life in the city, while the main character continues her comfortable, privileged existence.