(I’m reading spring books now for my old bookstore, so a lot of the upcoming entries will be for books that aren’t coming out for a looooooooong while.)
12 year old Libby Ryan comes from beef stock – her family owns a cattle farm in Nowhere, Indiana, breeding and raising cows for the beef market. Libby’s brother used to show prize steers at the county fair, and now that he’s off to college it’s up to Libby to step up and try to win the Grand Champion ribbon her brother never managed to capture. When the contest is over, however, the animal will be sold, and Libby doesn’t know if she can bear to see him go. To make it even worse, her mother has talked her into entering the Beef Princess pageant. Her closest competition in both contests? The obnoxiously named (and obnoxiously behaving) Precious, Lil, and Ohma Darling, scourges of the middle school and pageant winners for the last several years. Can Libby and her best friend, Carol Ann, stand up to the terrible trio at last? Will Libby bring home the prize her family covets? And how will she say goodbye to the steer that she has, against her father’s advice, treated like a beloved pet? This first novel is a funny, lovely portrayal of how one girl finds her footing as she navigates the the waters of a world that’s changing as she’s growing older.
LOVE this book. It’s great for the girls who loved THE MOTHER-DAUGHTER BOOK CLUB. There is always room for another nice book for middle grade girls, and this one is not only nice but well plotted, well written, and funny. The voice sounds like a 12 year old girl and Libby and Carol Ann’s friendship is one that girls will wish they had (or, perhaps, it will make them feel lucky for having one like it). There really isn’t anything to dislike about this book – the family relationships are solid but flawed in a believable way; none of the characters speak in a way that’s too old for them; the humor is wry and age-appropriate. And no inappropriate content whatsoever.
(If I had to pick something to dislike, it’s the font on the cover – I hate the font. But I love the picture.)
Publisher: Random House
Pub date: April 14, 2009
August 7th, 2008 - 11:24 am
This is so funny to me, as I spent 4th of July with family in Iowa, and the parade included the Beef and Pork Princesses of the state and county. I grew up in Baltimore and only found out about this recently, and thought it was wonderful! I’ll totally read this.