Reviews for The Beef Princess of Practical County

The average rating for The Beef Princess of Practical County based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2015-01-23 00:00:00 Ariel Muhlach Abigail Manning Mrs. Toney Periods 3 and 4 Friday March 13, 2015 The Beef Princess of Practical County Rating 9/10 Author: Michelle Houts Pages: 226 Summary The book starts off at Libby's grandfather's farm picking out calves. She picked one that was liking her hand and sucking her fingers. Her grandfather picked out the other one, a smaller calve who was standing all alone in the middle of the pasture. Her granddad said "That right there, he's a winner." Libby had her doubts on the one her granddad had picked but she went along with it anyway. She took them home and put them in their pins. She was trying to decide what to name them but her dad said that fair calves don't need names, but she went on and named them anyway. She named the one that she had picked Piggy because he was always hungry. She still hadn't figured out a name for the other one until she tried to put the halter on him. That's when she decided to name him Mule because he was being so stubborn. She had then decided that she fair she would show Piggy in the Practical County Fair because he was the one she liked better and he actually walked instead of just standing there. One day Libby was standing in the barn and the Darling sisters and their father rolled up the driveway. The 3 sisters walked in the barn and took one look at Mule and Piggy and laughed. Lib followed in Precious's footsteps, and the other sister Omaha is kind of a loner. One morning at 10:00 Libby woke up and she was confused, her dad normally woke her up by 9:00 to go do her barn chores. She went down stairs and outside with her dad and found out the Piggy had gotten his leg caught in the fence and nearly broke it. Her dad told her that they would have to take him to the butcher. When her dad did she cried and she decided she would become a vegetarian for Mules sake. She knew she would have to show Mule. She needed a little help from her brother (who was home on semester break from Purdue University) but she knew she could get it done. Libby's mom suggested she should do the beef princess pageant she didn't want to until she found a dress at the thrift shop and bought it. When she was walking out the Darling sisters were walking past and noticed that she had her dress at the thrift shop. She knew it would be tough because the Darlings always had the most beautiful dresses and they one every year. It was finally the week of the fair. Mule had been washed a couple of times he was trained but she was not even near ready to let him go to. Libby and her best friend Carol-Ann were walking around the fair when they walked past the Darlings calve pin. She what the girls had said how wonderful their calves were. They didn't look like anything to wonderful. All ratty. Then she seen Omaha's calve it looked sick or bloated. Well it was. Libby and Carol-Ann were on top of the fares wheel when the vet came rushing in. Omaha's calve was lying dead on the ground. Precious blamed Libby because she seen Libby near Omaha's cow earlier before it had died. Later that night before Libby left she heard something in the barn. She found out that it was Omaha in the corner crying because of her cow. She said some kind words and they became friends. Then the day of the show came Libby was nervous but she had Mule to comfort her. She did just what her brother told her and she was the first one in the Ryan family to win…Reserved Grand Champion! She thought that precious had cheated and she did. She had switched cows and she got eliminated. Libby didn't win beef princess but neither did the Darlings. Libby decided to not be a vegetarian and eat meat again. Libby sold Mule and she was upset but she got over it and picked out her new calves and didn't name then this time! Characters Libby is caring and she loves animals. She loves her friends and family. Carol-Ann is a good friend. A Person who would be there for you when you needed her. Frannie, Libby's younger sister, is imaginable and creative. She may be the only child in the world who has imaginary grandchildren. She makes up some very unique names to! Piggy is very energetic and loving. He was always eating. Mule was stubborn. He had potential he just didn't show it. He deep green eyes that Libby loved. Two of the Darling sisters were stuck up and only cared about themselves. The other one was more understanding and like Libby. Setting The book a ton of settings starting with her grandfather's farm. The pasture was one of the biggest settings so was the showing arena. Libby house the, thrift store, and the barn are other places that are important but not as important. The stall barn is where Libby got blamed for killing Omaha's steer even though she didn't. Conflict The conflict is that Piggy gets his leg caught in the fence. When Piggy got hurt they had to butcher him so then Libby had to show Mule. Mule wasn't trained like Piggy so it was a little bit harder. Whenever she was done showing the auction and she wasn't sure if she could let another The Darling sisters were also a really big conflict. Resolution Libby showed Mule in the Practical County fair. Not only did Libby show Mule but she won Reserved Grand-Champion. She sold Mule in the auction and was upset but she got over it. Precious Darling got illuminated from the final round because she cheated My opinion The book was fantastic! It seemed like a really fast read and I loved it. I think that if it had a movie that it would be even better. As long as the movie had as much detail as the book did it would be fantastic. Recommendation I would recommend this book to any girl who loves cows. It would be a good read for grades 4 through 8. I would NOT recommend this book to any boy unless they like reading about beauty pageants and girl problems. In conclusion IT WAS AWESOME!

Review # 2 was written on 2010-06-14 00:00:00 Peter Hambling One of my local booksellers said she passed on this book because she didn't think kids in our area could relate to a girl who raises and sells her own steer. She changed her mind when I pointed out that 4H is huge in the eastern part of our county. And for those of us who will never raise a steer or goat or even a rabbit, I think this is an important book because it portrays a way of life we city folk never experience. And Libby is a likable character who struggles with the tensions between her love for Muley, the steer she raises, and the reality of his fate. Talk about the price of success! I found the Darling sisters -- the bad guys in the book-- a bit hard to believe and wished that the adults had taken more of a backseat in Libby's journey of personal growth but I still genuinely appreciated my time in Practical County.