The judge lined them up, parallel to each other, and walked back and forth, pausing to study the setup of this or that animal, and pausing to question the handlers. The teens led their animals clockwise around the ring, and then reversed. Her catalog is as follows: (1990) The Recital (1991) Nickel Melley (1990) Absolutely Normal Chaos (1994) Walk Two Moons (1996) Pleasing the Ghost (1996) Fishing. How well were they showing their animals? Instead, her parents 'volunteer' Reena and Luke to work for an eccentric neighbor named Mrs. And moody you'd better watch it or she'd knock you flat splat. And she was selfish beyond selfish, and filthy caked with mud, and dust.

g both the animals and their handlers, but final judging in this round centered on the handlers. Shes ready for beaches, blueberries, and all the lobster she can eat. Evidence for Subborn: The truth is Zora was ornery and stubborn. This part was for showmanship: the judges were studyin. Instead of sitting in the bleachers, we stood by the arena rail with Mr. Zep and Beat tucked in their shirts wiped off their boots slipped cow combs in their back pockets grabbed their show sticks did a final once-over of their heifers Yolanda and YoYo and off they marched into the ring. (Aug.To quickly assess the difficulty of the text, read a short excerpt:Ī loudspeaker crackled: Thirty minutes, Group One!Īlong the rows the older teens quickened their pace. As Reena learns that a little kindness works wonders for both people and animals, Creech’s spare narrative creates vivid, emotion-packed images of landscapes, characters, and “that/ wild-eyed/ heifer,” Zora, that will stay with readers. Falala with chores, and before long Reena has agreed to take care of Zora and show her at the local fair, which requires work, patience, and help from more experienced livestock handlers. At their parents urging, Reena and Luke begin helping Mrs. Falala and her menagerie of pets, including Zora, a cow as cantankerous as her owner. After 12-year-old Reena’s parents move the family to Maine from “a harlequin city/ of sights and noises,/ of museums and parks and music,” there’s more in store for Reena and her younger brother, Luke, than cold weather, lobster, and blueberries-starting with elderly Mrs. In a book that could have easily been titled Love That Cow (or Hate That Cow, actually) Newbery Medalist Creech uses short chapters that blend poems and prose to trace a displaced city girl’s adjustment to life in a “boat-bobbing/ sea salty harbor town” in Maine. Moo, a young adult novel by Sharon Creech, is a heartwarming story of a familys adventure as they move from the city to a coastal Maine town.

Moo creech