HUMMER

A horse changes the life of a girl burdened by parental dysfunction and denial in this middle-grade novel.

On the outside, sixth grader Hummer’s house on her father’s dairy farm looks pretty normal. What is inside is the reason that no one is ever asked to visit: The girl’s mother, Leona, who sits rocking in front of a TV, is an extreme hoarder. Her anxiety reaches fever pitch if Hummer tries to throw anything away. Every room but 12-year-old Hummer’s is filled with smelly garbage. Her father, Virgil, who has moved into the barn, says that his wife is temporarily going through “a stage” and appears to accept Leona’s excuse that she can’t venture outside the house due to her “bad legs.” This leaves Hummer to see that her mother eats and to secretly do laundry and try to throw away trash without upsetting her. In Gruenberg’s compassionate treatment of each member of this dysfunctional family, there are no villains; it is clear that beneath Virgil’s denial of his wife’s mental deterioration, he cares for Leona. Love fuels Hummer’s protectiveness of her mother, too, despite being taunted at school when she tries to compensate for the shame she feels by making up self-aggrandizing stories about her life. As school ends for the summer, an unexpected catalyst for change arrives one moonlit night: a beautiful runaway Arabian mare. Hummer loves her old pony, but she’s been dreaming of a horse of her own, and this is meant to be, she thinks. Dubbing the mare Fox, Hummer is crushed to learn the animal belongs to a nearby rancher. In this deftly crafted, resonant story, the author shows how a bond develops between Hummer and Fox, how the tween and the rancher, crusty Old Man Riley, come to an understanding based on their mutual love and respect for horses and equestrian skills—and what happens as he becomes aware of the dysfunction shaping the girl’s life. Gruenberg deepens the book’s setting with an authentic depiction of a working dairy farm and horse care and training. The author’s pencil illustrations add visual interest.

A moving, realistic tale about a troubled tween finding a path to strength and purpose.