New York City life had crammed sidewalks, gasoline-filled puddles, and angry taxi drivers, but Juliette enjoyed the towering sky-scrapers, the half-block walk to school, and the restaurant smells wafting into her bedroom. She had never cared for a horse, let alone a long-horn, when her mother announced their imminent move to a 300 acre ranch in Texas, where they would ... Read morebe caring for three horses, five dogs, twenty-five longhorns, and a cat
all by themselves. Juliette couldn't help feeling excited, even though she'd have to climb a hill to get a bar of cell-phone service. Soon she was running from bats and snakes, rescuing a calf from a twenty-foot ditch, medicating ponies, and having adventures so crazy it's hard to believe they're for real
but it all happened exactly how it's written. Fiction based on real life experiences, 'That's Not Hay In My Hair' is replete with side-splitting laughs, heart-wrenching tears, and surprising life lessons learned down on the farm and shared by fourteen-year-old Juliette Turner. Specifically written for young readers ages 8 to 12, 'That's Not Hay In My Hair' is very highly recommended for school and community library General Fiction collections. For personal reading lists it should be noted that Juliette Turner's 'That's Not Hay In My Hair' is also available in a Kindle edition ($5.99).
The Midwest Book Review
Jules and her mother moved to New York City when she was 5, so she doesn't really remember the Texas ranch they left behind. But Jules is now 10, and her mom wants to return to her Texas roots. Instead of a cramped apartment, they are now living on a 300-acre ranch, complete with horses, dogs, and longhorn cows. Life is suddenly filled with chores, her grandparents' bickering, animals that need cared for, and wide-open spaces
-but Jules' love of animals makes it a perfect fit. In this poignant mother-daughter story, Turner immerses young readers in ranch life and, to a lesser extent, the transition to middle school. Although the character development is uneven and the plot sometimes lacks direction, the sense of place is fully realized. Despite its rough edges, Turner's novel will be well received by animal lovers and fans of Laura Ingalls Wilder's Farmer Boy (1933) or Phyllis Reynolds Naylor's Shiloh (1991).
- Melissa Moore
Booklist
Show Less