Justin Morgan Had a Horse

Justin Morgan Had a Horse by Marguerite Henry

To pay back a debt, a farmer gave two horses. One appeared to be a small runt. A boy remained attached to the horse and worked to tame him while living in Vermont. After a while, it was discovered that the horse was strong and could win hauling contests. Later it raced and was able to beat even New York thoroughbreads. It was a "mut" like Americans and was involved in key points in early American history. Eventually, the boy was able to claim the horse in his last days. The horse was the foundation of the Morgan bread. This is a quick historical novel.

Snow Treasure

Snow Treasure by Marie McSwigan

At the outbreak of World War II, the Nazis began to establish a presence in Norway. The residents of a Norwegian town had a large amount of gold that they didn't want the Nazi's to get their hands on. However, Nazis are closely monitoring what they do. To get around this, kids carry a few bricks at a time as they ride their sleds around. They are able to get most of the bricks into a staging area (sometimes hidden in snowmen) so it can be loaded in a ship bound for America.

Things get a little dangerous near the end where a Nazi seems to find them. However, he is a Pole that was conscripted by the Germans and wants to get out. He does later help rescue a boy who threw a snowball at a Nazi and they all set sail for America.

In the afterward, the author mentions that a ship did show up in America full of gold claimed to be smuggled from the Nazis via sleds. However, the details have not been corroborated. Regardless, this book is strictly historical ficiton.