She Holds Up the Stars by Sandra Laronde - ADVISABLE

She Holds Up the Stars by Sandra Laronde, 187 pages. Annick Press, 2022. $18 

Language: G; Mature Content: G; Violence: G (mistreatment of horse) 

BUYING ADVISORY: EL, MS - ADVISABLE 

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE 

12yo Misko is a Canadian First People and she lives in the city with her aunt. She does not want to move back to the reservation to live with her grandmother - all her friends, her school, all the stores she knows are here in the city. She is not happy to be there until she meets a most beautiful horse she names Mishtadim, which is being violently broken by his new owner. At first Misko and Thomas, the son of Mishtadim's owner, do not get along, but after awhile a friendship starts to form between them. Can Misko and Thomas stop his father from being so hard on the horse? Is there another way? 

She Holds Up the Stars is a quick read, and a beautiful story. I read it all the way through, I could not put it down. This would especially appeal to children who love horses, and maybe children who own horses. I recommend the lovely little story and I hope you will enjoy it, too. Main character in Native American. 

Ellen-Anita. Librarian