Another Kind of Cowboy

February 1, 2008
Gr 8-10-Alex Ford has always wanted a horse but never expected that his father would win one in a poker game. Turnip is definitely not a dream horse, but he does reciprocate the kindness that Alex shows him by performing to the best of his ability. They become a winning team in Western riding, but Alex has always dreamed of studying dressage. Several fortuitous circumstances help to make this a reality. A woman who is smitten with his father happens to have a dressage horse that she doesn't ride. A stable opens near him with two dressage trainers. He meets a girl, Cleo, who also becomes a dressage student and eventually a friend. The story alternates between Alex and Cleo. Cleo is privileged and rebellious; Alex is talented and self-effacing. He is also gay and has spent his teen years quietly struggling to understand and accept who he is but is concerned that his orientation will be unacceptable to his family and friends. He gradually becomes more confident, and, with the support of those who really care about him, his aspirations and his personal relationships seem full of promise. This is a well-written contemporary story with touches of humor and well-drawn, empathetic characters."Carol Schene, formerly at Taunton Public Schools, MA"

Copyright 2008 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 1, 2007
The author of Alice, I Think (2003) offers a change of pace in this charming story. Alex Ford fell in love with horses at agesix, and then with the sport of dressage. But Alex knows that Turnip, the sturdy horse his dadwon in apoker game, will never manage dressage, andresigns himself to becoming a cowboy.When a new horse enters his life, Alex, by now 16 and struggling with his sexuality, finds himself in a dressage class. The only other member of the class is Cleo, a spoiled American who wassent tothe Vancouver riding school after getting in trouble at home. The two lonely teens develop a friendship that eventually helps them realize their identities and strengths. Wry humor infuses this quiet story with a gentle warmth, and the secondary characters are well developed. Juby clearly knows horses and dressage, andher portrait of this world adds to the book's appeal. Readers don?t have to be horse lovers to find this a winning read.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2007, American Library Association.)

January 1, 2008
Juby explores the unlikely friendship between closeted Alex and spoiled-rich-girl Cleo. The two meet at the stable of Fergus and Ivan, top-notch dressage trainers, and the details of dressage play a major role in the book. Juby divides her attention between the riding and the social lives of the characters, who get her sometimes dark, always oddball treatment.

(Copyright 2008 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

January 1, 2008
Juby's irreverent style of storytelling, familiar to fans of Alice, I Think (rev. 7/03), here explores an unlikely friendship: that of Alex, a boy who rides Western but secretly yearns to switch to dressage, and Cleo, a spoiled rich girl with way too much horse, sent to boarding school in "Nowhereville, British Columbia, Canada" as a punishment for some "faulty decision-making." The two meet at the stable of kindly Fergus and demanding Ivan, top-notch dressage trainers. Cleo finds stability in Alex's quirky household, and Alex finds a friend to whom he can come out for the first time. The plot is a little overcrowded: the friendship becomes strained when Cleo begins to party heavily instead of working, and Alex's borrowed horse is reclaimed by the owner after her breakup with Alex's dad. The details of dressage play a major role in the book, although perhaps not enough to satisfy ardent horse fans. Instead, Juby divides her attention between the riding, which she clearly loves, and the social lives of the characters, who get her sometimes dark, always oddball treatment; the portrayal of Alex is particularly noteworthy as an unselfconscious, holistic rendering of a gay teen. Occasional unflattering moments confirm each character's human bona fides as they throw their hats into the ring in the complex sport of growing up.

(Copyright 2008 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)