Midsummer Sisters

by Niki Smith
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Release date June 2, 2026
Review copy provided by the publisher.
Content: There are a couple of instances of parents fighting and children being afraid, and there is mention of crushes. It will be in the Middle Grade Graphic Novel section.

Kenzie and Quinn are stepsisters, but they have grown up together for most of their twelve years. They don’t remember a time when they weren’t sisters. But, their parents – Kenzie’s dad and Quinn’s mom – are arguing all the time now, their fights getting worse, and Quinn’s mom is looking at a divorce and moving away. Neither girl wants this, but they have no say. When the fighting gets really bad, they go out to the Outer Banks to visit Kenzie’s grandmother, where they become invested in the wild horses. They work out their own issues – anxiety about no longer being sisters – while watching the horses and enjoying the island.

I wanted to like this one a lot more than I did. One of my coworkers mentioned that horse books are popular again, and this one definitely falls into that category. I know there will be kids – step-siblings whose parents are going through a divorce – who will find this helpful, but I couldn’t connect. I appreciated the grandmother (she’s the one with the most sense), and I think if I were more of a horse girl, I would have really enjoyed Kenzie and Quinn’s interactions with the horses.

As it was, I recognized that it was good, but I didn’t love it.

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