That’s Not Hay in My Hair
Written by: Juliette Turner
Publisher: Zonderkidz
Month, Year: March, 2016
A brief summary from ZonderKidz:
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 be 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.
Get ready for side-splitting laughs, heart-wrenching tears, and surprising life lessons learned down on the farm and shared by fourteen-year-old Juliette Turner.
My Thoughts:
Moving across the country from the bright lights of New York City to a small, very rural 300-acre longhorn ranch in Texas has Jules Turner upside down in adventures. Smog verses fresh air, friends living nearby to no cell phone service anywhere, cabs verses steers, the Met and museums fading away to the open wild and hills – things sure are different in Texas! But, Jules and her mom pack this novel full of hearty laugher, tears, and snakes. Uck! Too many snakes! (Even one is too many in my book!!) This book reads like a fictionized (is that even a word?! It is now!) auto-biography and left me wondering how much of this actually happened to Juliette Turner, the author, when she was growing up.
Overall, That’s Not Hay in My Hair is a cute read and perfect for pre-teens and teenagers. Even more impressive is the fact that the author was only 17 years old herself when this book was published – what an awesome accomplishment!
I was graciously provided a free hard-copy of this novel from BookLook Bloggers in exchange for an honest review. I was not required to write a positive review and the opinions I have expressed are my own.
Baker Kella 