Sweet, Tart

Gr 3-7–Halle has a lot of worries: starting middle school, a mean older sister, and the terrible accident she witnessed at her first horse race. Driven to understand what happened to the horse, Halle becomes a regular at Oak Creek Stables. She befriends Rocky, a lonely pony, and starts to feel like she belongs and can make a difference. When the farm is listed for sale, Halle learns about the joy and sadness that come with change. This tender and heartfelt book will resonate with middle graders. Halle’s problems—making new friends, dealing with a sibling, negotiating with parents—are relatable and timeless. The characters throughout the story are multidimensional; there are no purely “bad” guys here, but rather complex people who are dealing with real problems. Short chapters make this book more accessible for all readers, while also introducing elements of verse through Halle’s poetry in her Language Arts notebook. For readers sensitive to animal death, there are two references to animals being euthanized at different points in the book. Most of the main characters are cued white.