It's been a while since I read a book this long. But, being that this is a novel in verse, it reads fairly quickly.

Redwood and Ponytail is the story of two middle-school girls and their discovering of their sexuality. I enjoyed most of this story, but there are a couple of things that prevented me from really liking the book.

First, there's the issue of the audience not quite matching the writing. I can see how the author was in a tricky place here. This is supposed to be about two girls discovering they like girls. It's more likely for this to happen in middle school than in high school. However, the girls just don't read like 11- and 12-year-olds. Their internal thoughts are too adult, too poetic, and too wise. I kept having to remind myself that I was reading about young teenagers. One of the secondary characters, Becca, actually sounded more her age for most of the book (until the end when she started sounding overly mature, just like all the others). I'm not really sure if there's a way to fix this mismatch. Set the book in high school, and readers will wonder why Kate and Tam didn't realize they were gay earlier. Keep it in middle school, and readers will wonder why they speak like adult poets. It's a no-win situation.

Second, and probably far more problematic, is the fact that one character publicly outs another. Based on the acknowledgments, it appears that the author herself is gay... and so I would've expected this to be handled better. Now, I'm not gay myself, but even I know that it's a huge no-no to out another person. I just don't think this part of the story was satisfactorily addressed. Sure, in this case, it moved the plot along, and perhaps the person being outed wasn't that bothered by it. But, in not addressing the violation, it sort of condones the action; I'd worry that kids (because that's the intended audience) might think it's okay to out each other in front of the rest of their peers.

Some stuff I do like about this book are the switching points of view (even though there are places where the author breaks her own established convention in the formatting, which was a bit confusing), as well as the inclusion of the "chorus". This almost seems Shakespearean, with classmates Alex, Alyx, and Alexx sharing their observations on the drama going down between Tam and Kate.

And there is plenty of drama, driven by the colourful cast of characters. There's Kate's mom, an utterly superficial woman who seems to care more about her kitchen renovation than her daughter's happiness. There's Tam's mom, who's pretty much the opposite, almost smothering in her well-meaning attempts to be cool and relatable. There are Kate's cheerleading squad and her estranged sister. There are Tam's quirky neighbours and her best friend, Levi. All of these secondary characters, as well as the leads, drive the narrative forward, sometimes in interesting ways. I do kind of wish the storyline with Jill, Kate's sister, had a little more to it; that was one thread that sort of fizzled out when I thought it might be going somewhere more interesting.

I think, perhaps, I'm not the audience for this. I'm not sure how the poetic language is going to play with the intended audience (middle-school girls), but if they can get something out of the story, that's great. I just wish the issue of outing gay friends had been better dealt with; that part alone makes me hesitant to recommend this one overall.

Disclaimer: I received an eARC through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Tam is mostly ready for seventh grade to start. She’s friendly to all, but she’s mostly friends with just Levi. Unfortunately for her, she discovers that she only has one class with him.

Kate has a plan for seventh grade which is to follow her mom’s plan for her. But this suddenly gets disrupted when she takes one for the cheerleading team and volunteers to be the mascot for a bit.

Tam and Kate end up in nearly all the same classes, and on the first day of school, Kate makes a decision that surprises herself–she sits with Tam and Levi instead of all her friends.

But the tension starts to come as Tam and Kate begin to feel things for each other. While Tam knows members of the LGBT+ community, Kate doesn’t, and Kate begins to really wrestle with what it means that she might not be straight after all.

Told in verse, Redwood and Ponytail is a delightful middle grade novel that is eagerly welcomed into the fray of #ownvoices LGBT+ representation.

It so perfectly captures the tension of becoming who you are instead of who others always thought you were supposed to be, and this will be a life-changing book for students who pick it up.

Redwood and Ponytail releases October 1.

*****reviewed from uncorrected ARC*****
children's diverse middlegrade novel in verse (two 7th grade girls fall into 'like' and come out to their families and schoolmates)
sweet, very relatable story dealing with the awkward uncertainties of middle school and girls learning to speak up for what makes them happy. I think a lot of kids will benefit from this very readable, very accessible story.

I absolutely LOVED this book! K.A. Holt used verse to illustrate dialogue between the two characters as well as their inner thoughts. The flow of the verse was fantastic! Perfect for readers who love contemporary romance and stories about finding your true self!

I love this book so much! A novel in verse, complete with a Greek chorus of Alexes (Alex/Alyx/Alexx), the white space allows the reader to fill in the fragments with their own imagination, thus deepening the reading experience. It beautifully captures that space in female relationships that become more than friends and that whole quandary of what to do/who am I/what do I want.

I would have liked everything wrapped up in more of a bow at the end, but then, KA Holt is allowing the reader to once again fill in the gaps. A more finished ending would come off as inauthentic.

The form of the writing itself is interesting and would be great for writers to study to learn about alternative ways of telling a story, but the novel (plot, characters, pacing) is vivid and enthralling. My only complaint was that I can't scroll fast enough.

I also enjoyed how each page looked like notebook paper taped into a book. You can tell this book was designed with care and love.

Thanks, Net Galley for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 Great story about first love, finding yourself, courage, and family. I enjoyed the format, as I do most of Holt’s verse novels, and I’m sure my middle school audience will as well. I was hindered by the ebook ARC only allowing me to view one page at a time, whereas I think the print version will be much more powerful with the poems sitting side by side.

A great book! I loved the poetry and lyricisms. I especially loved the Alex/Alyx\Alexx section and how those poems could be read in multiple ways. A beautiful story that is much needed for so many people today.

I enjoyed the format of this book quite a bit. The alternating perspectives worked well and made me feel like I really got to know Kate and Tam. I especially loved Tam’s character! I’ve had students like her in the past, but I don’t remember any other characters like her until now. I can think of quite a few of my students over the years who will identify with one or both of these characters and I would bet those students feel as though they don’t often come across characters like themselves, if ever. Although I liked the idea of the “Alex’s” as omniscient narrators and the connection to the three fates, I don’t feel like their part played enough of a role in the story to make them worthwhile.

I saw this book last week when I was the America Library Association Conference and missed out on a chance to meet the author while I was there. Was glad to find an advanced copy on Netgalley. It is such a beautiful story! One I wished I'd had when I was in middle school.

I received a copy of this book from netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I really liked how it was in verse, I think it was pulled off nicely. The characters seemed a little flat at times, but overall it was good and worth my time to read.

Love love love! Another home run by K. A. Holt! A novel in verse about identity and self-acceptance that will hit home with any reader, no matter who they are or who they love. It's already on my purchase list for my middle school library! Thank you to Chronicle Books and Netgalley for the opportunity to experience this ARC!

I am a huge fan of K.A. Holt and novels in verse. Redwood and Ponytail did NOT disappoint. This is a story that needs to be told, and it is told in a beautiful, artistic, relatable way. The characters and their reactions to one another are realistic. The feelings expressed in the thoughts that Kate and Tam share are authentic and help the reader to understand them and empathize with their quest to be who they are. The adults and friends of the main characters have varying responses to the situations in the book and these responses are approached both delicately and powerfully. The feelings of first crushes conveyed feel universal. The back and forth between the characters is done beautifully. The word choices all around are incredible, and the reminders on the last few pages that 1) there is no need to be concerned about the word "normal" since there's no such thing and that 2) "love is love" had me closing this book with big time HEART EYES!

A Sapphic coming out story, told in verse.

** Trigger warning for homophobia. **

Oh, honey.
If you think being normal is a win,
then I have done my job wrong.

Do you think you are?
Gay, I mean?
Lesbionic?

It’s the first day of seventh grade, and Tam and Kate are registering for classes when they spot each other across the gym. On the surface, the girls – soon to be known to each other as Redwood and Ponytail – couldn’t be more different. Tam is happy goofing around with her best friend Levi (as short as she is tall), scoring points on the volleyball team, and hanging out with her super-supportive mom and elderly lesbian neighbors, Frankie and Roxy. And with her aspirations to be the captain of the cheer squad – not to mention the all-around smartest, most respected girl at school – Kate is all but guaranteed to follow in her high-strung, perfectionist mom’s footsteps.

Yet they form a fast and unlikely friendship that soon blossoms into something more. Will everyone be as cool with it as Tam’s hippie mom? Can Kate find a way to break free of her mom’s overbearing shadow? Will her cheerleader friends still love Kate if she’s “lesbionic” – and more comfortable dancing around as the school’s mascot than leading them in a routine? And just what is going on with Tam’s bestie Levi and Kate’s sister Jill?

I love a good novel in verse, and am always in the mood for a F/F love story, so it was inevitable that I take REDWOOD AND PONYTAIL for a spin. Overall I enjoyed it, though some of the poems were a little too simplistic and rhyme-y for my taste. I’m well above the book’s target audience of ten and up, though, so grain of salt.

Perhaps more germane: there’s a scene where character z outs character y without any sort of real blowback or consequence, which is problematic as heck. PEOPLE, DO NOT DO THIS, EVEN IF YOU’RE HURT OR YOUR INTENTIONS ARE GOOD. Seriously, not a great example to set for the 10+ crowd.

On the plus side, Holt introduced me to the term “lesbionic,” so there’s that.

Redwood and Ponytail is a fun engaging read that handles sexuality and identity with such care. The verse is distracting at times, but ultimately, I really enjoyed the style and format.

This book is a beautiful story of two girls who like each other, but maybe don't always realise that they *like* each other. I've recently fallen in love with verse, and this story is like nothing else I've read. It's sweet and heartbreaking and I finished it in one sitting. My only problem with it is that even though I, as an adult, enjoyed the story line and could keep up with the point of view changes and how it is formatted, I sometimes felt like it would be too confusing for a middle grade child. I would just be worried that the format (with the two stories side by side in some sections) would get confusing for some kids. That being said, I will still recommend this to my middle grade kids and teens!

I generally adore verse novels, so when I came across a sapphic verse novel in a blogpost by Dahlia Adler, I immediately knew I wanted to read it. So I was very excited when I saw I was able to read the eARC already. And while I did mostly enjoy this novel, I have somewhat mixed feelings about it.

Let me start off by saying I think this middlegrade novel is amazing for the target audience: a verse novel for kids about two girls questioning their sexuality and falling in love? YES!

I really loved the writing style as well. It was fairly simplistic, so it won't be too difficult for middlegraders to follow, but it was beautifully written as well. I especially loved the addition of an actual choir, just like in ancient Greek poems!

It's the story in itself I'm a little conflicted about though, because while I liked the characters, I didn't feel like they were distinctive enough a lot of the time. And Kate seemed to be a lot more fleshed out as a character than Tam was, even though both of them are main characters. Because of this, the story didn't resonate with me as much as I hoped it would.

Rep: questioning/lesbian main characters, f/f romance, elderly lesbian couple.

CWs: (internalized) homophobia

ARC provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Unfortunately, this was a miss for me.
It was a trial to read not because of the style alone as I have read and enjoyed books like this in the past. The voices of the girls weren't distinct which made it hard to tell who was talking. It's cringey and problematic in its presentation of queer characters. There are outings and homophobia in this book so if that is a trigger for you then please know that this occurs in the book.
I wanted to like it as a queer girl but there are better books that deal with similar topics better.

Thank you, NetGalley and the publisher for making reading this ARC possible for me.

I am not normally a fan of novels in verse, but I really enjoyed Redwood and Ponytail.
I have been finding it very hard lately to connect to characters because of my reading slump but in this book, I couldn't stop smiling at how adorable their encounters were and I found myself feeling down whenever one of them was sad. I also liked the family aspect of the book.
All in all, this is an important read for youngsters who are trying to figure out who they are.

Rating: 3.5/5.

Thank you, NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read this novel.

Rating: 2.5 stars
Rep: questioning MCs...f/f relationship.
TW: a couple of instances of homophobia.

First off, I think this is a "me not you" situation, judging by all the 4 and 5 star reviews I read, I would 100% recommend checking out those beforehand!

In all honesty, I was going to DNF this book, but I really wanted to give it a chance and it definitely did pick up! The more I read the more invested I became, but it took around 150 pages to get to that point, for me personally. I love novels told in verse, but this one was a little confusing and I didn't seem to jell with the writing style.

I found that Kate and Tam (the main characters) didn't have very distinctive voices, if it wasn't for the name headers, I wouldn't have known who was speaking.

Tam borderline outs Kate in front of all her friends, which I was really not happy with. Kate was questioning her sexuality, Tam had no right to do what she did. This is just one of the cases where I found myself frustrated with the characters.

I know I am obviously not the target audience for this, it being a middle-grade novel, so maybe that's the problem.

To end on a positive note, I honestly believe that this is a very unique, important novel. I mean, a middle-grade book told in verse with LGBTQ+ characters? I really respect that, we need more of these for sure.

Unfortunately, I could not finish this book. The poem style writing was exhausting to read, especially coming from different POVs. The plot was proving to be interesting and just a boring, coming of age story, but I just couldn't get over the stream of consciousness writing.