Rodeo Princess
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
Theme: Hi-lo, Young Adult, teen, realistic fiction, rural, rural life, sexuality, friendship, stereo types, horses. “Stay out of my life. Or I’ll tell.” That was over three years ago. The last time I talked to Amy McNair. One of the prettiest girls in school. She’s horse crazy. And an amazing barrel racer. But I’m going to win at the annual rodeo. Beat her. It’s all I’ve got. Even my boyfriend’s parents don’t accept me. Mainly because of my brothers. They aren’t exactly upstanding citizens. People think I’m the same as them. If only they knew. From the Great Plains to the borderlands to the Mississippi Delta, rural America is struggling. The population is shrinking. And the economy is shifting away from agriculture. Without a safety net, rural families struggle with depression, drug abuse, alcoholism, and other problems. Gravel Road Rural addresses the contemporary issues affecting rural America in an unflinching way.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Cattle-ranching life provides the backdrop for Higgins's addition to the Gravel Road Rural line, written at a second-grade level. Jade is plenty busy juggling high school, chores, horse training, and tending to her father and brothers while her mother is stationed overseas in the military. But she's also in love with her former best friend Amy, who ended their friendship after a shared kiss three years ago. Keeping her secret from everyone including the boyfriend who cherishes her weighs heavy on Jade, and things reach a breaking point when she is scheduled to compete against Amy in the barrel-racing event at the annual rodeo. Heavy use of sentence fragments ("I wash dishes. Take care of the horses. Check Freddie's leg") makes for choppy reading, but a hopeful if somewhat rushed ending suggests that better days lie ahead for Jade. Ages 14 up.
