#3

Book #3 of the Misty series once again performs a hard reset on the Beebe timeline, as Sea Star is AWOL (he isn’t even referenced - which creeps out Adult Me but Child Me probably wouldn’t have minded much, I guess) and Misty herself is back home from NYC.

This one is about a storm that decimates the island’s town and nearly wipes out the feral pony herd. It doesn’t shy away from the bleaker parts of disaster recovery, and I think Henry did a great job in balancing the grim nature of the whole thing for a young audience.

It’s a little frustrating to see Maureen get shot down over and over again. Literally anytime she says anything in this book, Paul or the Grandparents immediately push back. She constantly laments being both “born a girl” and unable to help with the recovery efforts, and nothing ever comes of it. She never gets any kind of comeuppance or moment for herself. Realistic, but still irritating to read knowing the target audience for this book.