Hummer

They call her Hummer because she does: all the time. At least whenever she's thinking of horses, which is pretty close to saying all the time. However, there is something Hummer avoids thinking of at all costs: why her father doesn't go in the house anymore, but sleeps in the barn, and why her mother neither bathes nor cleans house, or ever goes outside. Every time Hummer goes in, she holds her breath to avoid the smell of garbage. Twelve-year old Hummer is shy, quiet, and thin. But on horseback, she's fantastic. Her old pony Mike has gotten stiff and asthmatic. But one night Hummer catches an Arabian mare that has escaped. When the old-man owner turns up, he lets Hummer borrow the horse-call it a loan-and it is about to change Hummer's life.