That's Not Hay In My Hair--Juliette Turner-Book Review

        
I was more than surprised.  I was offered this book by BookLook.  I didn't read anything about it before I downloaded the E book to my phone.

I wish I had received the print copy!  It took me a few days to read because I was reading it on my phone.
But I really enjoyed it.

Here's what it's about . . . (Resource provided by BookLook)

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.

And I thought . . .  I didn't know what to expect.  I wasn't totally sure who the intended audience was.  I just read the book and enjoyed it.  

The characters were funny and heartwarming.  The stories Juliette tells about  the things that happen to her are  were funny.  I could tell that the writer knew what she was talking about when she described working with the animals.  There was a lot of detail that would be interesting (in my opinion) for readers that know nothing about ranching and horses.   The detail was 'spot on' and made the story interesting for me.   That attention to detail impressed me.

Jules the main character was young.  Going into the 6th grade moving from New York City and an all girls private school to a Christian school in Texas.   Jules shares her thoughts and feelings about all the changes going on in her life with a humorous enthusiasm.  

I did think that Jules really didn't talk like a 13 year old.  Her character could have easily been 17 or 18.  The things she did and her attitude toward her mother and grandparents was very mature.  The way she worked around the barn and took care of things was very mature.  

This was a fun story and I recommend it to all ages.  I do think that the intended audience of 8-12 is a bit young.  My two 8 year old grand children (a boy and a girl) who are both little horse people themselves would probably not be too interested.  They would probably really enjoy the story so I could see the book would be good for a family to read together for younger children.  

I don't want to give the story away.  The ending might be a little intense for younger readers. Especially those with no ranching experience.

There are a lot of interesting situations that Jules and her mother get into while managing the ranch.   The situations  are real and true things that could happen on a ranch.  A little of how they handled things like being late to school because of something that happened at the ranch was a little bit crazy.  I couldn't help but feel that Jules mom needed to help her daughter learn to be a little more organized.  But I didn't see that Emily her mom was real organized.  She was a little scatter brained. 

I was a little uncertain how I wanted to rate this book.  Because of it's intended audience and because I wasn't really sure that a young child would be able to understand a lot of the story.

I was leaning toward a 3 1/2 to 4 stars for that reason because I felt like a mature writer would have woven the things that happened to Jules into a story that was a bit smoother.

But, I investigated the writer and what I found really impressed me.  The author Julliete Turner is teenager herself.  For more information about the author visit her Facebook  and her website

  I enjoyed this book and give it a rating of 4 1/2 stars.  

I received a complimentary Ecopy of That's Not Hay In My Hair from BookLook in exchange for my honest review.     

This review is posted on Good Reads and the following retail sites.  To read additional reviews or purchase visit Amazon, Barnes and Noble or Christian Book (dot)Com