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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Another Kind Of Awesome, May 8, 2009
This review is from: Another Kind of Cowboy (Hardcover)
One of the first authors that springs to mind when I think Canadian YA lit is Susan Juby. Her first book, Alice, I Think featuring the amazingly quirky and amusing adventures of a girl named Alice was a hit inside Canada and outside of it (giveaway of the second book of the series here). In fact the main character is so bizarre, that whether you loved her, hated her or questioned her sanity, you most definitely couldn't forget her. It was refreshing to read about a character who didn't try to fit in and preferred to revel in her strangeness. In fact, all of Susan Juby's character's ultimately choose to be themselves (no matter how strange or not strange they are).
Another Kind of Cowboy introduced to us more loveable and quirky characters. The novel is told from the point of view of two such characters, namely Alex and Cleo.
Alex has wanted to ride for as long as he could remember (in fact, as a child, he used to ride his bicycle around the neighbourhood pretending it was a horse). And, as a cowboy he's got the chance to do for years. But what he really wants to do is dressage (an English style of riding) and now, he's finally got that option.
Cleo is rich and bratty. After a rather stupid mistake, she finds herself exiled to a boarding school and enrolled in dressage lessons.
The two couldn't seem more different and yet they might just be exactly what the other one needs.
(Okay, I realize this isn't the best summary. But trust me, it's much, much better than I'm making it sound).
Don't rule this book out if you're not a horse fanatic (I'm not!), it's a fully relatable story about friendship and growing up. There's a lot going on in this book (Alex being truthful about his homosexuality, both of them dealing with family issues, alcohol and drugs, and of course, horses). Juby manages to pull all of these with relative ease-the book never seems overwhelmed.
And, of course, one of the best parts of the book (as with Juby's other books) was the sense of humour-there are plenty of laugh-out-loud moments.
My only qualm was that it took a little while to adjust to the shifting points of view especially since Cleo's sections were in first person and Alex's were in third.
Nevertheless, if you're looking for a fun read with a high dose of humour, this is definitely one you'll want to pick up.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Another Kind of Cowboy by Susan Juby, January 7, 2011
I read somewhere that the author started to plan this book as the story of Cleo, the spoiled daughter of absentee parents who is living in a boarding school, and she ended to write about Alex, a gay teenager living in a small town where they barely know what riding is, let aside what dressage means. And sincerely it's clear that, while Cleo is a nice supporting character, Alex is the real life of this story.
Alex's passion for riding, and dressage, is almost an obsession; and if you read between the lines of his childhood, you will understand that is also an escape from reality. His mother divorced not only her husband, but also her children; Alex is alone in raising two little sister, since not his aunt or his father are of much help, his father even moved in a roulotte in the front garden, probably to not have to live in an house without the woman he loved. But Alex's father is not a bad man, nor when he is sober or drunk, he is only extremely sad; he is really not able to take care of his children but that doesn't mean he doesn't love them, and so, when he gets a chance, he brings home an horse, a real horse, for Alex (see living in a country small town? You can have a barn in the backgarden instead of a shed for a dog...).
Problem is that, a) the horse is not a dressage horse and b) even if the horse was, there is no one around there that can teach Alex dressage. And so Alex becomes a little champion of western riding, with cowboy hats and boots, all the while dreaming of tight breeches and top hats. If an external viewer can see that, other than being an escape from reality, Alex's obsession for dressage is also a proof that he has a sensibility that is completely different, and greater, than a normal boy, it's not until he hits puberty that Alex realizes that he is gay. But there is no "gay" in the small town, no one he knows who is, no one he can relate, same as it was for dressage: dressage and gay are "stranger" things, not "normal", and if you like them you are not normal as well.
Alex's luck changes when Ivan and Fergus move in town: both former dressage champion, they have a beautiful house with attached horse riding and they are willing to teach Alex. To an adult reader, it's clear that Ivan and Fergus are a couple, but there is no hint of sex, no kiss, nothing: Ivan and Fergus are two horse lovers who are eager to share their love with the others. They are not an example for Alex of how being gay is, but maybe they are giving him an idea of what being gay and having a career related to horses can be. Alex will discover his sexuality (but only for what concerns kisses) with another teenager, finding out that he is not so strange after all, and that even in the small town where he lives there are other like him, and more than what you will expect.
Another Kind of Cowboy is a really sweet and tender story, a romance between teenagers that remains on a teenager level, not adult feelings or issues to ruin the discovery of first love; and even if you read it from an adult perspective, the sweetness is so nice that is good to lose yourself in an innocent world.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Another Kind of Cowboy, May 29, 2010
This review is from: Another Kind of Cowboy (Hardcover)
Alex has been obsessed with it since he was a kid, and Cleo spent her first jumping lesson sobbing. I appreciated that, actually. The book skips around between Alex and Cleo, telling Alex's story in third person and Cleo's story in first person. It sounds a little weird, until you start reading it. They're both sixteen. They both live in Nanaimo on Vancouver Island, Alex because he's always lived there and Cleo because she was sent to a girl's boarding school centered in equestrian sports.
Cleo is filthy rich because her parents are movie producers/directors, and thus leave her alone for vast quantities of time while they're off shooting movies in exotic locales. Alex's mom abandoned his family and his dad is a budding alcoholic living in an RV in front of their house. He's got an aunt and two sisters, twins, making sure things get done rather slowly around the house as Alex's dad spends all his time sleeping with a balding woman who is the island's most prolific realtor because her face is most commonly seen plastered all over areas destined to become strip malls.
Of course, they've got problems. Alex is struggling with his sexuality, which is to say he's a sixteen-year-old gay kid and horrified by the idea of having to tell anyone. Cleo is rich and selfish and lazy, but she's also dealing with the fact that her parents basically dumped her in Vancouver when her actions lead to their massive house in L.A. being stripped of all its expensive televisions, vases, and other possessions. She has no friends, and because she rides dressage and most of the girls at the school don't, that leaves her with one other girl who is a friend by proximity.
They both have horses. Cleo's parents bought her a ridiculously expensive and talented mare called Tandava. Alex has an elderly paint named Turnip that his dad won in a poker game. In a twist of fate, they both start training with Ivan and Fergus, dressage coaches recently retired to the area. Initially Cleo is interested in Alex, but when she tries to kiss him he just winds up screaming "gay!" at her.
I have learned that stumbling across a good horse-themed book is a miracle, so I'm treasuring this moment. Another Kind of Cowboy is a fun story. It's well-written and the characters are hilarious in a realistic way. The dressage and general riding descriptions are not in any way dry and boring, and while the story might tie up a little too neatly for Alex, it's still a satisfying read.
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