Sam — Susan Larson

Ruthie Rossley loves horses more than anything. When her parents buy an old dairy farm Upstate, she struggles to persuade them to give her the pony of her dreams. When they finally relent, she buys the first horse she sees. Sam. He's huge, ugly, opinionated and rank to shoe. Ruthie, her sister Evvie and Sam learn to love and care for each other. Sam teaches Ruthie horsewomanship: that is, courage, patience, self-control and forgiveness. Often Sam's lessons are learned the hard way. Confronted with family strife and misfortune, Ruthie realizes it is time to use her horse sense on people: she must forgive her troubled father, and honor the patient courage of her mother. Can this young girl gain control her rage and hurt, and re-unite her family? Sam knows the answer. YA Fiction, 212 pages.