Dirt

A Horse in the House?

Things are hard for eleven-year-old Yonder. Her mother died and her father has sunk into sadness. She doesn't have a friend to her name . . . except for Dirt, the Shetland pony next door.Dirt has problems of his own. He's overweight, he's always in trouble, and his owner is the mean Miss Enid, who doesn't have the patience for a pony's natural curiosity. His only friend is Yonder, the scrawny girl next door.So when Miss Enid decides to sell Dirt for horsemeat, Yonder knows she has to find a way to rescue him. Even if that means stealing Dirt away and sneaking him into her own house. What follows will make you worry, will make you cry, and will ultimately fill you with hope, love, and an unshakable belief in the power of friendship. Especially the four-legged kind.

Denise Gosliner Orenstein was previously the Director of the MFA Program in Creative Writing at American University, as well as the Head of School at the Centreville School in Delaware, where she introduced a curriculum with Shetland ponies for children with learning differences. Denise has also taught in fourteen Alaskan bush villages, served as a mentor in the Pen-Faulkner Prison Writing Program, and worked in a canine therapy program with her beloved Saint Bernard, Annabelle. She lives in Northampton, MA.