No Small Thing by Natale Ghent

No Small Thing by Natale Ghent is about three siblings, Nat, Cid, and Queenie who find an ad in the newspaper for a free pony. They soon call the owner, who tells them to go to her house. As they go to her house, they soon meet  a Lipizzaner stallion  who seems very friendly. Even though their mom doesn’t know about this, later in the book they convince her to let them keep Smokey (the horse) [SPOILER ALERT] after Queenie begs mom to keep the horse, after she fell off it and broke her neck. 

The characters in this novel experience both pain and joy while keeping this stallion, who soon gets gelded by force from another horse owner. They keep the horse to keep their minds away from their father, who kept them as a lovely family, until one day he left for a new family. Nat does see him driving with his new family in his car. The reason why they dislike him is because he left the family with barely any money nor food to eat, being forced to live in a run down house. The pony does change their lives, making them happier than ever, until, a horse from the barn dies from the barn falling on him. One of the horse owners (the one who made them geld Smokey) warns them that it isn’t safe to keep Smokey there anymore, but they still do. A fire happens at the barn, and it leaves them no choice but to either sell Smokey or find a new stable. They couldn’t find a new stable that was both nearby and cheap, meanwhile, they need to move to an apartment because they don’t have enough money.

I recommend this book to anyone who is up for a sad story, likes horses, or is willing to read a story about both sadness and happiness. It is also at the Grove Junior High library.

Reviewed by Camille ~ 6th Grade

Lexile 780