A coming-of-age story in which a young boy is sent to watch thousands of sheep alone up in the haymeadow in the mountains. He learns how to be independent and resourceful, to be alone with his thoughts, and reconnects with his father.

My son & I enjoyed the book, but there are so few teens living a country lifestyle that I'm not sure how many others would appreciate this. John's strong sense of responsibility (a reality of living on an isolated ranch) has him watching the sheep on their summer pasture. While he has the skills to care for the animals, make camp, use and clean his rifle, his inexperience puts his life and the animals in danger. His knowledge that his great-grandfather had to figure it all out when he started the ranch provided the determination he needed to figure out what to do. And the peace of the mountain valley gives him strength. ( )

Gary Paulsen is the champion of survival coming-of -age novels. This time 14 year old motherless John, is charged by his father with herding a flock of 6000 sheep far up the Wyoming mountains, because the farmhand who usually summers with the sheep has cancer. For three months John battles snakes, coyotes, flash floods and even a black bear. He finds himself hesitating to kill severely wounded sheep with his gun. He also needs to come to terms with his family history, which is not quite like he has always believed.
The beginning of the book was very slow, which might cause teens to loose interest before the meat of the story is reached. Once John arrives at the Haymeadow everything happens so fast, that he hardly has time to recover from one catastrophe or the next one happens. Suddenly things calm down, coyotes, bears, snakes and the like disappear into the mountains and John has a lovely month or so with the sheep, the dogs and the mountains. Somehow this quiet ending is not very convincing.

( )

I liked this book less than I wanted to. I typically enjoy adventure stories that deal with overcoming some sort of natural obstacle in order to "survive", especially when it has to deal with horses or ranching. This was just a little too much survival though. Don't get me wrong, it was good to see all the stuff about ranching and all of the hardships that must be faced when caring for sheep on your own, but it felt like it was slam full of one chaotic event after another, leaving no time to take a breath between mishaps. As a reader I felt like I didn't get the chance to take in my surroundings or get settled into the situation before I was uprooted again. I understand that the author was trying to convey the difficulties and responsibilities of ranching on your own, but it would be nice to have actually had a look around at the scenery and situation, to catch my breath and take the entire experience in. There is a little bit of family resolution at the end of the story, which was nice to see, but this is a true adventure story from beginning to end. ( )

Gary Paulsen was on of my favorite authors as a kid. I read this book in 4th grade but its great even more middle school. John has to care for thousands of sheep over the summer in the Haymeadow by himself. He encounters many challenges and undergo's tremendous growth and comes to know himself as an individual.