K.A. Holt doesn't disappoint with her new novel in verse. I loved the alternating perspectives of Redwood and Ponytail, and the pages with the Alexs gave the story an interesting vibe. This is such a sweet love story, and I appreciate how appropriate it is for middle schoolers, as it is sometimes difficult to find novels that deal with important topics that aren't too mature. Can't wait to add this to my classroom library!

I received this e-arc from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

TL;DR: Please give this to your middle schoolers! Amazing. Well written. Timeless. Quick read. Age appropriate. Worthwhile. Will make you feel things and probably cry - especially if you’ve ever been through these things before. Coming of age. Accepting yourself. Wholesome.

The first couple of pages didn’t catch me because I hadn’t gotten a feel for the two characters’ voices yet. A few pages more in and I couldn’t put it down. That ‘can’t put it down’ feeling continued for the rest of the book.

I wasn’t sure how I’d feel about it being told through poetry, but it really added to the book in a meaningful way.

This is the kind of book I would buy for a kid trying to figure themselves out. Yes, it’s fantastic if you’re figuring out your sexuality, but I’d also recommend this for anyone trying to figure out who they are and wondering if the people around them will accept them. People trying to figure out which ‘me’ is the real ‘me’. Honestly that applies to so many people through their teens and twenties as well.

This book dealt with some serious topics and yet still managed to feel uplifting overall and wholesome. I would have liked a few more pages of happiness at the end to fully make the switch back to uplifted.

As Kate and Tam dealt with their feelings, you felt them too. It’s pretty powerful. It’s also very realistic for what people go through trying to figure themselves out.

I actually enjoyed the ending of this one and I give huge props to the author for that because it’s so rare for me.

This book had me fully crying on the train from the depth of emotion the girls were dealing with.

It was also nice to see the different family dynamics between the two girls. I think this alone could be so important for young girls to see. It’s also important to see that everyone has things going on you don’t know about and that we all struggle with who we are.

I’d like to request a college age version of this because I think it’d be a really great adaptation.

Regardless, this story is timeless and should be in every school library.

Thank you, thank you to Netgalley and Chronicle Books for the advance Kindle copy of this book. All opinions are my own.
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⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 🙌🏻ALL THE STARS. ALL OF THEM. This tale in verse is so perfect for middle school readers. Kate and Tam are opposites in many ways: Kate is a cheerleader with a bouncy ponytail, and Tam is a towering volleyball star. The two notice each other in a completely new way to them, and spend the novel exploring who they are and who they really want to be. Order multiple copies and spread the love, library friends. ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜.

This novel in verse is about two girls trying to figure things out in middle school. Kate is a cheerleader and wants to be the cheer captain to follow in her mother's footsteps. Tam is an athlete who excels in different sports. They don't really know each other until they start school and they end up in almost every class together. They find that they enjoy each other's company a LOT. It's a lovely story about falling in love and dealing with the people around you that may or may not be supportive of a relationship. The free verse is a terrific way to tell the story, alternating between voices. I really liked this one a lot.

Gosh. I think I might go ahead and say it--this is one of KA Holt's best books. Maybe it was the #OwnVoices piece, or the beauty of her storytelling, but this takes the cake. Kate finds herself through Tam and the story is a sweet, sweet one of the two of them discovering they have something more. I love it because it really and honestly shows that books tagged as LGBTQ+ are NOT all sexually explicit. It proves and demonstrates that writing a story about innocent love between two girls can be...just that. The content fits the targeted reader age level as well as the age maturity of Kate and Tam. I gave this four stars simply because I needed more. I am a huge fan of any novel in verse but it naturally lacks setting and plot development and that turns 4 star reads into 5 star ones (as a personal preference).

I grew up reading books in verse, I devoured every one that I could get my hands on, but every single one was far outside of the range of what I should have been reading at that age. Now this, this is exactly the type of book in verse that I would have loved to hand younger me.

This was a heartwarming story of two girls coming into their own, learning about their own identities, and maybe, just maybe falling for each other. I just want to hand this book to every young kid that has ever wondered why they feel like they don't or can't fit in. I really enjoyed this and loved seeing how each girl developed and grew through the story.

DNF because of the format. I can't read PDFs on my phone because it's bad for my eyesight, and I don't want to risk it. What little I read was good, but I can't continue.

Actual rating: 4.75/5

This book left me feeling so many things as I read it. Kate especially was really relatable. Kate and Tam are beginning the seventh grade when the meet, and everything begins to change for them. Tam has always been best friends with Levi, but this year they only have one class together while in every class she sees Ponytail. Kate is trying desperately to be perfect, what her mother wants and expects her to be, but seeing Redwood stand tall and be herself, she begins to question what she wants.

This is really a story of defining yourself and figuring out feelings and understanding relationships. I loved Kate and Tam linking pinkies and the development of their friendship. I love that even by the end they’re still figuring themselves and each other out, still deciding how to define who they are, especially together.

This just really meant a lot to me to see. There’s parts where Kate is talking about faking her interest in the boy band because it’s expected and Tam calling out how pretty boys that look “like girls” are okay for girls to like but suddenly it’s not okay if a girl likes another girl. I think if this book had existed when I was younger and I read it, it may have changed my life just a little…

This book was better than I'd expected. To be honest, my eyes had kind of skipped over the "written in verse" part of the description so my first thought was "Oh, no." I'd only ever read one other book in verse and was kind of disappointed by it. However, I was pleasantly surprised by this one. The verse style really worked for the story, especially the back and forth moments between the girls. So yeah, I cute and fun read.

This was such a cute and wholesome book. I loved the fact that it was in verse since I am a fan of those types of books. I really like the characters and how they interacted with each other. overall a really good read.

Like a lot of middle-graders, Tam and Kate are figuring out who they are. They must navigate parents, friends, and their own self-doubt in order to finally be true to themselves. While the romance aspect keeps the reader in hopeful suspense, it's the psychological depth achieved through the verse novel form that makes this book stand out. Woven throughout are flashes of humor and quirky details, like a turtle named William and a picture frame around a hole in a wall. This will be an important book for not only girls learning to embrace their sexual identities, but for all kids learning to not be threatened by this kind of love.

K.A. Holt is a genius, and this book is proof!

From beginning-to-end of Redwood and Ponytail, my mind continuously was spinning as I tried to wrap my head around what K.A. Holt was doing on the pages before me.

Her construction of a story is magnificent, and it is so different from anything else in young adult literature today. She has a voice and strong purpose in her stories, and that talent shines through in every one of her books.

Redwood and Ponytail picks up where the books House Arrest and Knockout have left out. You get to see glimpses are some of K.A. Holt's best characters, but in a completely opposite manner that you see them in the other two books of this series.

Instead of the story focusing on the relationship between brothers, Timothy and Levi, the story tells about the unlikely friendship between Tam and Kate. Tam is a full out tomboy that rules the volleyball court while Kate is a well-loved perfectionist that shines on the cheer squad.

The friendship between Tam and Kate turns heads as soon as it begins. The unlikely pair confuses the school, but the two ignore the stares. Things speed up quickly when Tam and Kate learn that they mean more to each other than either initially realized. As the two navigate middle school, they find that their growing feelings for each other are complicating the already difficult struggles that are present in one's teenage years.

The strength of the new relationship is quickly tested when things in both their lives blow up. Will the two be able to figure out if they have a future together, or are they destined to forever be known as "the Redwood" and "the Ponytail?'

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an eARC of this title for review purposes. All opinions are my own.

I loved this book. There is no other way to say it. I simply loved it. I loved the characters, I loved the writing, I loved the storyline, I loved the acknowledgements, I loved it all. Holt has penned an impressive story of what it feels like to have a first crush, and then to also realize that your first crush might not be who you thought it would be. This is a lovely sweet story and one I can't wait to hand out to my middle school readers.

Tam and Kate meet on the first day of school, and suddenly, it's like they've always known each other. Of course they want to be friends. Of course they want to hang. Of course they make each other laugh. And so what if they might hold hands? Or only want to see each other? Or feel a sparkle each time the other is near by?

Tam knows who she is. Kate knows who her mother wants her to be. And as 7th grade goes by, the girls must learn to figure out what it means to be themselves.

This was a beautifully-written novel in verse. I loved seeing both Tam and Kate's points of view. It was funny, realistic, sad, and uplifting all at once. I have a feeling this book will be one of those "books at the right time" for a lot of kids struggling to understand who they are and what they feel. As it says in the end, there is no such thing as normal and love is love is love is love. I can' t wait to share this with my middle grade patrons.

Having read House Arrest and Knock Out, I really enjoyed this book. This is a great middle grade LGBTQ+ title, which can be difficult to find when many are more YA. I loved the building tension between the two and the dual perspectives. I wasn’t as fond of the chorus of Alexes and thought the first meeting of Tam and Kate needed more of Kate’s thoughts before she approached Tam. Excited to get this book for my grade 5/6 library.

K.A. Holt continues to be a master of the verse novel. Her poetry is evocative, moving, and engaging. Redwood and Ponytail is a wonderful story of new friendship and blossoming identity. The dual narratives are each unique. I highly recommend this book.

Kate’s mom is pushing for her to be captain of the cheerleading squad, but Kate prefers being the mascot. When she befriends Tam, she begins questioning her sexuality. When Kate’s mom shuts down her revelation, she seeks validation from her sister, who is estranged from her mother. Connections and disconnects abound. Very interesting dynamics in various relationships in the story.

So much potential here, but K A Holt couldn’t quite decide whether she wanted a middle-grade story or a YA story, and in attempting to straddle both, the end result was ultimately unsatisfying.

Kate and Tam are presented as just entering 7th grade. And that’s necessary for the innocence that both exhibit about their blossoming sexuality and attraction to each other. But their voices just don’t match their stated grade level. High school I could buy. Middle school, not so much.

Add to that the fact that the whole town seems to come out for the school’s football games; the games feature a student who runs around in the school mascot costume; and there is much drama over who will be the cheerleading captain, and you’re firmly in high school territory rather than the world of 7th grade problems.

I enjoyed the free verse format; thought the 400+ page length could have been tightened up (especially, again, if you’re marketing it to middle grade/ middle school students).

Redwood and Ponytail are two girls worth getting to know; I just wish that the overall package had been more cohesive.

Thank you, NetGalley, for the electronic ARC.

I love KS Holt's books, and so do my students! Very excited to see this one come out - wish it was available on Kindle so I could read it in advance (I never have luck downloading the documents).. Never the less, I'll be ordering it since all the other books have been wonderful.

An impossibly sweet novel in verse. The characters are lifelike and beautifully written. The friendship is so sweet, and I have never shipped two characters more. They're perfect together. And the themes of growing up and finding out who you are are well-drawn and all too real.

Kate, I think, is the better fleshed-out main character. She felt especially real. She has a fully developed family, and her struggles feel like they get more attention. She's such a sweetheart, and she makes a lot of mistakes as she figures out who she is. She's worried about what other people think of her and she needs to learn what makes her happy. But she's afraid that her being happy will make other people unhappy. Her relationship with her sister Jill is lovely to read about. And lots of readers probably have problems like Kate does with her mom.

Tam was harder for me to connect with. Maybe that's because I'm more like Kate, but also just because I don't think Tam was given quite as much depth. That being said, I still like her a lot. I just got frustrated with her sometimes. She seems less mature than Kate in some ways, yet more mature in others. I didn't like how she completely abandoned her friend when she met Kate.

The plot is nicely done, although I think there was an unnecessary amount of petty drama between Kate and Tam, but it was well resolved. I liked the structure of the book. I didn't think the sections with the "chorus" were all that great, but that's mainly because it took me a while to figure out what was up with it. It was a unique touch.

This is a truly lovely book that I would recommend to middle grade readers as well as young adult ones. There's nothing objectionable, it's very clean, and it might help a reader feel much less alone. The message of the book is that it's okay not to be "normal," and that there's a Redwood for everyone's Ponytail and vice versa. Truly sweet and made me choked up in a couple of places.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.