No Small Thing

Name: No Small Thing
Price: 6.93 USD
Availability: InStock
ISBN: 9780006392781

ISBN-10: 0006392784

ISBN-13: 9780006392781

Edition: 2004

Authors: Natale Ghent

List price: $10.99

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Description:

When twelve-year-old Nathaniel and his two sisters discover an ad in the paper for a free pony, they can hardly believe their luck. But Mum's been having a hard time ever since Dad walked out on them four years ago and takes some convincing to add a pony to her responsibilities. Eventually she relents and so begins a year of self-discovery, as Nat struggles to deal with his father's absence; look out for his younger sister, who is different; and recover from having his heart broken by a rich, pretty girl from school. Life is not always easy, but Nat knows that Smokey, his very own pony, will be waiting for him at the end of each day. Or will he?

Book details

List price: $10.99
Copyright year: 2004
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date: 9/27/2004
Binding: Paperback
Pages: 440
Size: 4.75" wide x 7.00" long x 0.63" tall
Weight: 0.352
Language: English



Ma keeps her back to me. I can see she isn't going to budge, which might explain what I say next.


"You have to let us keep him. That pony is the best thing to happen to us in years. If Dad were here, he'd let us keep him."


This makes Ma turn around, all right, and she looks at me like she's staring at the devil himself. She doesn't yell these next words. She spits them through her teeth.


"I don't want to hear another word. You take that pony back tomorrow."


"Please, Ma-"


"Get out and leave me alone!"


Ma's words hit me like broken glass. I feel the anger rise up inside me, and before I know what's happening, I'm screaming. "I hate you! I won't take the pony back! Not tomorrow or ever! Dad left because of you, and I don't blame him, you old witch!"


Ma stares at me, her jaw dropped, the wooden spoon she was using to stir the cocoa still in the air. Queenie and Cid just stand there, their faces all shocked and disbelieving. I slam out the mudroom door and stumble down the stairs in my bare feet. I feel like a big fist is hitting me in the stomach. I think I'm going to throw up. I start to run and I keep running, past the corner store and through the park. I run past rows and rows of houses that all look the same, past the church and the jailhouse. I run until I'm far away from everything and my lungs feel like they're going to burst.


I keep running, but no matter how fast I go, I can't outrun the image of Ma's face. The terrible words stab at my brain over and over. I collapse on the lawn of a house where the windows are dark, and then I start to cry like I have never cried before. I can't stop my body from shaking. "I'm not like my f-father. I'm not like my father."


____________________ NO SMALL THING by Natale Ghent. Copyright (c) 2005 by Natale Ghent. Published by Candlewick Press, Inc., Cambridge, MA.