Horse trouble by Kristin Varner

Graphic novels for middle grade readers have become common enough that selectors can often afford to, well, select, instead of just buying everything that comes out and then replacing it as fast as possible when they fall apart. I've started previewing a lot of graphic novels that don't immediately click as popular and I was curious to see how this one would measure up.

Kate is twelve and there are a couple things you should know about her: She's chubby, which gets her picked on a lot at school (and at home) and she loves horses. She enjoys a lot of other activities, including soccer, but it's around these two points that her story in this book revolves. Throughout the story, Kate grows as a person and as a rider as she deals with bullying at home, school, and the stables, makes new friends and tries new things. No matter how many times she falls, while riding or in her personal relationships, she manages to get up and learn from each with help from sometimes unexpected sources.

This is one of the few books I've seen, especially for middle grade, where a girl called "fat" actually appears chubby, including on the cover. Kate doesn't always handle things perfectly - she gets scared when she has falls, tries to get back at the snobby mean girls who torment her at the stables, and keeps the harassment from her older brother's friends to herself for a long time. In the end, she resolves most of her conflicts and speaks up for herself, so readers are not surprised that her best friend, who has been absent all summer, says she looks different - stronger and more confident.

I was annoyed at the double standard applied to Kate and mean-girl Jana. Kate is tormented for months by Jana and the other wealthy girls, but it's not until she gives in to temptation and mildly retaliates - pushing Jana into a wheelbarrow of manure at a party - that the stable owner gives a lecture about not tolerating bullying. All her concern is for poor, sensitive Jana who can't handle a little comeuppance. I would have liked her better if she'd been blunt with Kate about the facts of life - Jana pays for lessons, she needs the money, they have to be nice to her - and not told Kate she was the bully because she was the only person who did anything physical.

The art is all in shades of blue, gray, and white, with a few pink notes picking out important words, moments, and events. The back includes stories from Varner's own life as a horse-loving girl, along with photographs and how some of her own experiences were included in the book. There are also explanations of the tack, events, and other aspects of horse riding and competions.

Verdict: This should be popular with both the small subset of "horse girls" as well as the wider group of Raina Telgemeier fans, and it's a great representation of a girl who handles a lot of challenges in her life and becomes stronger and more self-confident. Ordered for the library in 2022.

ISBN: 9781250225870; Published October 2021 by First Second; Borrowed from another library in my consortium