Customer Reviews

The Haymeadow

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The book I read is called The Haymeadow. John is The main character, he is a fourteen year old who wants some change in his life. He lives with his father and two permanent hired men named Cawley and Tink. John's mother died when he was four years old. He barely remembers her. During the years he was told few stories about his mother and his memories are confused with stories. John's father and Tink go to town and were suppose to return in the afternoon. His father only returns. John finds out that Tink had to stay in town with the doctors because they discovered he had cancer. Just like John's grandfathers will be asked to go to the haymeadow. But since Tink can't watch over it John will have to go a little earlier than his grandfathers had. Doubts of not accomplishing the task are all over his mind. Spending a whole month with six thousand sheep, two horses, and four dogs will be lots of work. Going to the haymeadow was a long journey as it is. During the first days at the haymeadow, John already approaches many problems. A snake attacks one of the lambs causing it to have a deep cut. Usually they would shoot a lamb so that it won't suffer but John decided to heal the wound. Also, a bear attacks! These are just some of the many obstacles he approaches in the haymeadow. He continues overcoming the obstacles and before John knew it, it was the end of the month. The figure on the horizon was his father coming to see him. His father brings good news. Tink was not going to die because of the cancer. All of the stories of his mother are told to him by his father. When it's time for his father to head back John doesn't want him to go. He tells him that and his father stays and tells him more stories in the haymeadow.

I like the book because The way the author describes the setting. "It was more than a meadow. More than just hay. It was a wide, shallow valley between two rows of peaks. The haymeadow itself was four sections, but the whole valley was close to four miles across and nearly eight miles long and so beautiful, John thought, that it almost took his breath away." I could picture the haymeadow by the way the author describes it. I really enjoyed learning more about the haymeadow.

"One car with New York plates was full of tourists and there was a girl with long brown hair who got out with a camera and John felt a little shy but tipped his hat to her. She smiled back and waved and he felt himself blushing but was glad he'd done it anyway." John continues to think about that girl as the time passes. I think he had a his crush on her but he never told Cawley. Cawley saw everything and teased him about that day. John still hoped to see that girl once again.

My favorite part of the story was when the flood goes and hits his trailer. John ends up looking through the haymeadow looking for his clothes. All of his shirts soaked and he lost many supplies. The labels of all the canned food went down steam so John ended up with having a unknown meal everyday. This is the part of the book with the most action. I think this was the best part because at one point I questioned if he would survive in the haymeadow after all this.

The book The Haymeadow was written by Gary Paulsen. John is just a fourteen year old who wants some change in his life. He lives with his father and two permanent hired hands named Cawley and Tink. John's mother died when he was four years old. He barely remembers her. During the years he was told few stories about his mother and his memories are confused with stories. John's father and Tink go to town and were suppose to return in the afternoon. His father only returns. John finds out that Tink had to stay in town with the doctors because they discovered he had cancer. Just like John's grandfathers will be asked to go to the haymeadow. But since Tink can't watch over it John will have to go a little earlier than his grandfathers had. Doubts of not accomplishing the task are all over his mind. Spending a whole month with six thousand sheep, two horses, and four dogs will be lots of work. Going to the haymeadow was a long journey as it is. During the first days at the haymeadow, John already approaches many problems. A snake attacks one of the lambs causing it to have a deep cut. Usually they would shoot a lamb so that it won't suffer but John decided to heal the wound. Also, a bear attacks! These are just some of the many obstacles he approaches in the haymeadow. He continues overcoming the obstacles and before John knew it, it was the end of the month. The figure on the horizon was his father coming to see him. His father brings good news. Tink was not going to die because of the cancer. All of the stories of his mother are told to him by his father. When it's time for his father to head back John doesn't want him to go. He tells him that and his father stays and tells him more stories in the haymeadow.

The reason I liked this book so much was because of the way the author describes the setting. "It was more than a meadow. More than just hay. It was a wide, shallow valley between two rows of peaks. The haymeadow itself was four sections, but the whole valley was close to four miles across and nearly eight miles long and so beautiful, John thought, that it almost took his breath away." I could picture the haymeadow by the way the author describes it. I picture a beautiful valley surrounded by mountains and the grass rolling in the same direction. Everything is so beautiful and peaceful. I really enjoyed learning more about the haymeadow.

What I also liked about it was that included some love. This evened out the book so that it balanced. "One car with New York plates was full of tourists and there was a girl with long brown hair who got out with a camera and John felt a little shy but tipped his hat to her. She smiled back and waved and he felt himself blushing but was glad he'd done it anyway." John continues to think about that girl through the days in the haymeadow. I think he found his crush but he never admitted it to Cawley. Cawley saw everything and teased him about that day. John still hoped to see that girl once again.

My favorite part of the story was when the flood hits his trailer with all of his belongings. John ends up fishing his stuff out of the river. All of his shirts soaked and he lost many supplies. The labels of all the canned food flowed down steam so John ended up with having a mystery meal everyday. This is the part of the book with the most action. I think this was the best part because at one point I questioned if he would survive in the haymeadow after all this.

My book review
The Haymeadow
By Gary Paulsen


Imagine you had to spend the whole summer alone, well maybe not exactly; you have to take care of 6,000 sheep, 2 horses, and 4 dogs. This is what John Barron has to do when his father has to take his best friend, Tink, to the hospital when he gets a cancer in his brain. John's father would usually take care of the sheep and the dogs in the Haymeadow, but with Tink in the hospital and all. John had to do it, with only one tip from his father's friend Cawley, "Keep a horse at hand" John encounters many obstacles during that summer. You'll just have to read the book to find out!
I have read a lot of Gary Paulsen's books and The Haymeadow was on of the best, it was pretty interesting I would recommend this book to anyone who likes adventure books; I strongly recommend any one of Gary Paulsen's books, especially the Brian books (Hatchet, Brian's winter, The river, Brian's return and Brian's hunt. They're also very interesting.


By Mark

The Haymeadow.

This book is one of the many great adventure books that Gary Paulsen has written in his

many years. He has one of the most interesting lives I've ever heard of. This boy's life

lies on a farm. His family are sheep herders, every year they drive them out to a pasture

to spend the summer. This summer the usual guy gets sick and the boy must drive the

sheep. He packs up his wagon and gets ready to leave. Find out what happens next by

reading the Haymeadow by Gary Paulsen. This is a great book 4.5 stars. I recommend

this book to 5th to 8th grade kids

The Haymeadow By: Gary Paulson John Barron, a fourteen year old boy, lives with his father on a ranch in Wyoming. His father goes to town to help a sick employee that works on the ranch. This employee usually and herds six-thousand sheep up into the haymeadow, but since he is sick it is up to John to help out his father's business. The sheep can not survive outside of the cool mountainous environment of the haymeadow during the summer. This meadow is a two-day trip by horse from the Barron's camp. John is forced to stay there for three months tending to the sheep. While John is there the river floods and his supplies are scattered everywhere. John is faced with possible starvation. Also he loses his rifle and has no way to defend himself or the sheep from the ravenous coyotes. In the haymeadow John has to be very resourceful and brave as he faces many dangerous and difficult situations while he is alone in the valley. The story reveals that Gary Paulson wrote The Haymeadow well. In the novel Paulson describes everything thoroughly and keeps one on the edge of one's seat. Paulson's theme in this novel is different than most. He wishes to convey that everything in nature is beautiful in some way no matter how what an organism's purpose is. To back this up Paulson writes soon after the herd is attacked by coyotes, "By the end of three weeks things had reserved and he decided one afternoon to try and find what wasn't beautiful. He was sitting on the side of the stream and had his pants rolled up and his bare feet in the water and he looked around and thought of the last three weeks and tried to think of something that wasn't beautiful. And he couldn't." This book is filled with action and is interesting. I enjoyed it a lot and would recommend it to many.

The hay meow is about a boy. This mom died when he was young. He was raised by his dad on a ranch. The ranch had six-thousand there was two helpers. One got sick. Now john had to take the sheep to the high ground. He went with the sheep all summer. Then his dad came to get him.
Thing I liked about the book is that it is that it was always exiting.
People that I would like these book is people that like adventure

The book The Haymeadow was written by Gary Paulsen. John is just a fourteen year old who wants some change in his life. He lives with his father and two permanent hired hands named Cawley and Tink. John's mother died when he was four years old. He barely remembers her. During the years he was told few stories about his mother and his memories are confused with stories. John's father and Tink go to town and were suppose to return in the afternoon. His father only returns. John finds out that Tink had to stay in town with the doctors because they discovered he had cancer. Just like John's grandfathers will be asked to go to the haymeadow. But since Tink can't watch over it John will have to go a little earlier than his grandfathers had. Doubts of not accomplishing the task are all over his mind. Spending a whole month with six thousand sheep, two horses, and four dogs will be lots of work. Going to the haymeadow was a long journey as it is. During the first days at the haymeadow, John already approaches many problems. A snake attacks one of the lambs causing it to have a deep cut. Usually they would shoot a lamb so that it won't suffer but John decided to heal the wound. Also, a bear attacks! These are just some of the many obstacles he approaches in the haymeadow. He continues overcoming the obstacles and before John knew it, it was the end of the month. The figure on the horizon was his father coming to see him. His father brings good news. Tink was not going to die because of the cancer. All of the stories of his mother are told to him by his father. When it's time for his father to head back John doesn't want him to go. He tells him that and his father stays and tells him more stories in the haymeadow.

The reason I liked this book so much was because of the way the author describes the setting. "It was more than a meadow. More than just hay. It was a wide, shallow valley between two rows of peaks. The haymeadow itself was four sections, but the whole valley was close to four miles across and nearly eight miles long and so beautiful, John thought, that it almost took his breath away." I could picture the haymeadow by the way the author describes it. I picture a beautiful valley surrounded by mountains and the grass rolling in the same direction. Everything is so beautiful and peaceful. I really enjoyed learning more about the haymeadow.

What I also liked about it was that included some love. This evened out the book so that it balanced. "One car with New York plates was full of tourists and there was a girl with long brown hair who got out with a camera and John felt a little shy but tipped his hat to her. She smiled back and waved and he felt himself blushing but was glad he'd done it anyway." John continues to think about that girl through the days in the haymeadow. I think he found his crush but he never admitted it to Cawley. Cawley saw everything and teased him about that day. John still hoped to see that girl once again.

My favorite part of the story was when the flood hits his trailer with all of his belongings. John ends up fishing his stuff out of the river. All of his shirts soaked and he lost many supplies. The labels of all the canned food flowed down steam so John ended up with having a mystery meal everyday. This is the part of the book with the most action. I think this was the best part because at one point I questioned if he would survive in the haymeadow after all this.

When 14 year old John Barron is asked to spend the summer in an isolated mountain meadow, he is unsure. I mean, sheep are stupid anyway, right? But Tink, the farmhand is sick, and it IS John's turn, just like his father, and his father before him. So he does end up going up to the haymeadow to waste his summer with these...these... creatures.

During his stay, John learns more about responsibility as he encounters may complicated tasks, and he also realizes that maybe sheep aren't so stupid after all. An outstanding book. Gary Paulsen does and exellent job of actually telling the reader what the character is really thinking.

John is only 14 the year his father expects him to spend the summer in a distant haymeadow in the Wyoming mountains--alone with 6,000 sheep, 4 border collies and 2 horses. Unsure if he is up to the demands of prolonged living without human companionship in valley pasturage, lacking both experience and a guidebook, the boy psyches himself up by pretending he would do things the way he imagines the Old Man--his great grandfather who founded the spread--would have done. Make him and his distant father proud: how best to honor his Barron heritage than by conquering the wilderness and loneliness with just his wits and his gut instinct!

He wonders how he will spend the time during 3 months of long days. Somehow Nature keeps him very busy, as the dangers to sheep, dogs, horses and even himself arrive in waves, without warning. As in other Paulsen stories, this coming-of-age tale includes mental wrestling with ideals of beauty and man's role in nature. Also the protagonist grapples with erroneous conceptions of the family legend and seeming parental indifference. If he can survive what nature throws at him that summer, he will depart the haymeadow a different young man. Experiencing on-the-job training without a mentor (like learning to swim by being thrown abruptly into water), John Barron could write his own shepherd's manual after just one week. Despite minimal dialogue this adventure narrative grips the reader; Paulsen's deft and authoritative style make for fast readig, especially enjoyable for kids 12 - 16.

The book was shipped very fast. It was in good condition, just as it was described. I am pleased with this purchase.