Unexpected Allies and Recurring Warts — Grace Marshall

A spunky kitten on a daring rescue, a neglected mare full of love, and boys that recur like warts make teenager Ruth Deloach's life far from boring. For every kind person that comes to the ranch there seems to be two warts. The attitudes and temperatures of southeast Missouri starkly contrast the suburbs of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, but Ruth doesn't have time to adjust before her father holds an open house for their horse ranch, Meredith Meadows. Ruth's overbearing older brother seems to just add dangerous sparks to her frustration as she tries to figure out who she has to be nice to and who she actually wants to be nice to. At first, the horse lessons on the ranch start making Ruth feel as if she is back in her comfort zone until she gets tossed by one of the horses. Sometimes the best way through life is to laugh through the tears, warts, and her own attempts to mow the grass in a straight line.