This is my Home, Something, Home read. Jessie Haas is a Vermont author and a patron of the bookstore I work at. She and her husband, Michael Daley (also an amazing author), stopped by the store one day and I had the pleasure of becoming friendly with them both.
Saige is a very typical an American Girl story. This young girl is spunky, nervous, must deal with family and friends issues. Plus, she will grow and make mistakes along the way. She has interests like any girl (likes her friends, family, animals, art, likes horses, painting and more). Saige also loves riding horses and painting with her grandmother, Mimi. She loves her best friend Tess who is growing apart from her. And she likes her new friend Gabi. But along with the usual friendship worries, she also is dealing with a lot of changes: Mimi has an accident and cannot help Saige like she usual does, and on top of it, is acting very unMimi like! But like the true American girl she is, Saige rises to the occasion and saves the day! She learns that things change, while they stay the same, too.
The illustrations by Sarah Davis are minimal in number but are there to make the story even stronger. They support the text of Haas. The actual illustrations are vibrating and sweet. They capture the New Mexico setting nicely and of course, the horses!
Haas is still an active horsewoman and I cannot help but think a piece of her is in Mimi and Saige.