by Jill Alexander
Summary: Almost-15-year-old Austin Gray is tired of standing at the curb and watching the parade pass her by. Literally. She decides this is the year she’ll ride on the hood of a shiny pickup truck in the annual parade, waving to the crowd and finally showing the town bully that she’s got what it takes to be the Sweetheart of Prosper County.
But far from simply being a beauty contest, becoming Sweetheart involves participation in the Future Farmers of America (FFA), raising an animal, and hunting or fishing. Austin will do almost anything to become Sweetheart, and has the support of her oldest friend, Maribel, her new FFA friends (including the reigning Sweetheart, and a quiet, cute cowboy), an evangelical Elvis impersonator, a mysterious Cajun outcast, and a rooster named Charles Dickens. If only her momma would stop overprotecting her, and start letting Austin live her own life. But Austin can’t move on until Momma moves on, too—and lets the grief of losing Austin’s daddy several years before out into the open.
My Thoughts: This was a cute fun story! We meet Austin who is an ordinary girl like you and me. She has hopes and dreams. She just wants to be normal. She lost her daddy when she was young and thinks that if she had a daddy people would leave her alone. She is sick of being picked on by Dean and she figures the only way for that to happen is to become the Sweetheart in the parade. We've all had our Dean's in our life. You know, those annoying boys who liked to pick on us, who made fun of everything we did, who wouldn't get off our case! Austin needs an animal so she picks out a rooster named Charles Dickens. This book is one of the cutest happiest books I have ever read. I especially loved the Matthew McConaughey reference on page 31. Does Austin win and become sweetheart? How is Charles Dickens doing? Does Dean finally leave her alone?
My Favorite Paragraph: The rooster knocked over Momma's autographed picture of Matthew McConaughey, which the actor had personally given her when he passed through town and needed a new hinge for the screen door of his trailer. He came in the store shirtless, and Omma tripped over herself getting him a pack of hinges.
Overall: Cute and Fun! I recommend it!
Cover: Sweet cover. Love the rooster.
What I'd Give It:
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2 comments:
This sounds like a happy read. I think I need to read something that's not complicated and is just fun. Great review =)
It sort of creeps me out that there is a rooster on the cover. And also that the girl is named Austin - which is so a boy's name for me. Depsite that, this sounds cute.
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