I'm a horse girl at heart, and I will almost always pick up a book if there's a horse on the cover. This story felt a little bit disjointed and a little too fast-paced. There were a lot of threads introduced, and I think the way this is written would appeal to younger Middle Grade audience more than kids about to go to high school. I love found family. I like the exploration of grief and guilt, but I think more could have been done to connect Dani's healing with Sunshine's. A lot of that journey was implied instead of shown.

I think all the topics that were started were really important to note - the casual racism in the name of "assimilation", book banning, grief over losing a parent/sister, an absent parent, new school, neighborhood "development". All of this introduced only to have a rushed conclusion. Overall, still a good read that younger middle schoolers would enjoy.

Thank you to NetGalley and publisher for the opportunity to read and review.

This book started strong, but then seemed to rush to a conclusion. Middle school student Dorani's mother dies unexpectedly, causing Dorani to be unexpectedly whisked away from Miami, the only town she has ever known, to her mother's home in a small town Wyoming, where she is to be raised by her estranged aunt, Tia Ivette. While in Wyoming, Dorani strikes up an unlikely friendship with Sunshine, a traumatized horse staying at the family ranch to undergo treatment with Ivette, who is a famed trainer and animal therapist. She also becomes friends with a number of lovely and largely immigrant kids at her middle school, where she simultaneously attracts the attention and ire of the daughter of the town's mayor who is a stereotypical over privileged mean girl who abuses her power.

A number of plot points are introduced but many are rushed to their conclusion or unsatisfactorily addressed, which makes the book feel a little chaotic and the end feel tacked on. Much hay is made of Ivette refusing to call her long term boyfriend her boyfriend, for example. Dorani regularly wonders about this and it seems to be significant...only to be resolved by a character commenting in passing that Ivette previously had a partner die in a plane crash. I think readers are supposed to assume this trauma has left Ivette wary of making or acknowledging existing connections that leave her vulnerable, but simply never comes up again save for a comment in the epilogue that Ivette eventually RSVPs to chaperone a school event as "Ivette and boyfriend." Other smaller plot points are similarly discarded in favor of focusing on a protest (in costume!) against a middle school policy that prevents students from wearing the flags of any nation but the US or speaking anything but English and even this plot point isn't fully resolved as the conflict is resolved behind closed doors and never fully explained.

Plot point overabundance aside, the narrative style is very good and quite readable. I'd happily pick up any other title by the author in the future.

This has lots of really great lines about dealing with grief and how much work it is to heal. I also love that Dorani is someone unafraid to do what’s right and stand up against injustices. This book was a super engaging story that I struggled to put down. I really loved this one and all the ways it hit my emotions.

This was a really great, emotional story of grief, healing, and family and community. Dorani blames herself for her mother’s death because the reason her mom wasn’t at the hospital when she had a heart attack was Dori got in trouble at school and her mom was called in. Her Christmas is spent having to pack up and her mom’s funeral before she moves from Miami to Wyoming to be with her aunt, Tia Ivette. At first Dorani feels unwelcome and unwanted and just wants to get back to what and who she knows in Miami, but when she starts bonding with recently injured Sunshine, a horse that was the only survivor of a car accident, she starts to see that she has a place in Wyoming after all.

This has lots of really great lines about dealing with grief and how much work it is to heal. I also love that Dorani is someone unafraid to do what’s right and stand up against injustices. I did in some ways feel that read young for a thirteen-year-old protagonist, but at the same time it worked really well and was a super engaging story that I struggled to put down. I really loved this one and all the ways it hit my emotions.

After the sudden death of her mother, Dorani must move to Wyoming to live with her Tia Ivette, since her father, Guti, is a film star who has never been part of her life. At first, Tia Ivette seems cold and distant, but she is just dealing with a lot of emotions about losing her sister after having fought with her years ago and not having made amends. Dorani is also dealing with not only her grief, but her guilt; if she hadn't gotten in trouble at school for reading The Diary of Anne Frank, her mother would have been in the hospital when she had a heart attack, and could have been saved. At least the students at her junior high in Cooper are friendly, and her experience is fairly good, even though she gets mistakenly placed in an English Language Learner class. Ivette is a horse trainer and rehabilitator, and works long hours with the animals. Even though Dorani is not a "horse person", she takes an interest in Sunshine, a horse who was in an accident that killed several other horses. Sunny doesn't want anyone to touch her and is very skittish, but Dorani is able to brush her, and the horse even cuddles up to her when she is crying. Dorani and her aunt slowly warm to each other, and family secrets emerge. When her new school reinforces racist policies, Dorani is finally able to rely on her friends and family to support her, and finds her voice just in time to speak up for herself when her father shows up to claim custody of her.
Strengths: This was an interesting trip to Wyoming, and the descriptions of place are top notch. I almost wish there were a touch of Christmas to the cover, since it starts during the holidays when there is a lot of snow. Moving from Miami to Wyoming in December would definitely necessitate some flannel and nice warm boots! Tia Ivette's personality seemed perfectly explained for someone who ended up having to take care of her estranged sister's daughter; she's not irritated, but she's not all that thrilled about it, either. It was especially nice that the other students (with a few exceptions) were nice to Dorani, and the inclusion of information about book bans and questionable policies puts this on trend for 2024 middle grade fiction.
Weaknesses: While the parallels between Dorani and Sunshine both processing grief are nicely done, this would have been more fun if there had been more information about horses. When my students see a book with a horse on the cover, they want a lot of details! That said, there were a decent amount of equine exploits, and way the grief is handled is much more positive and realistic than in many soggily sad middle grade books about grief.
What I really think: This is a good choice for readers who enjoy horse books like Henson's The Whole Sky or Stevenson's Lizzie Flying Solo that combine horse elements with serious issues.

What a heartwarming book about Dori starting a new life after losing her mom. Dori goes to live with her aunt that she barely knows in Wyoming. She starts at a new school and makes friends. Her aunt Ivette has horses, and Dori discovers that she and Sunshine have a connection she didn’t expect. Her aunt is even surprised the horse seems to trust Dori. Dori’s dad has been filming in Mongolia and she hasn’t seen him in a while. When he shows up unexpectedly he says he’s there to take her back home to Miami. Does Dori stay with her aunt or go back with her dad?
Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the eARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

This was a cute story, but it felt somewhat disjointed. Based on the cover, I thought the book was mainly going to focus on Dorani's bond with her aunt's horse, Sunshine. But the author decided to cram together multiple plotlines that didn't really work cohesively. You have Dorani processing her mom's death, getting used to her new home in Wyoming, getting used to her aunt, attempting to reach out to her Hollywood-star dad, and dealing with racist school policies. It was just a lot.

Also, Guti was a deadbeat and forgiven too easily by both Dorani and Ivette. Deadbeat fathers get no respect from me.

This was such a strong concept for a children’s fiction novel, it had that element that I wanted and enjoyed about that genre. I thought Dori was a great character to follow and had that main character element that was needed. The rest of the characters worked overall and was glad I got to read this, as Yamile Saied Méndez has a strong writing style.