Barn Boot Blues

Meet Taylor McNamara. She’s twelve. She’s a city girl. But her parents have just moved her onto a sheep farm in the middle of nowhere. She’s trying to get into the spirit of farming, but things aren’t going very well. Meet the farm animals: 40 chickens, 20 sheep, 10 ducks, and 4 goats, one of which can pee on his own head. Taylor’s job is to collect eggs every morning, which she can only do using an umbrella to catch the chicken poop. Meet the principal and kids in Taylor’s new school: Taylor inadvertently breaks rules such as “A skirt must be a full one inch longer than your fingertips.” Kids tease her about her ugly barn boots and the chicken poop in her hair, yet they admire her pluck. Taylor struggles to adapt to her new life, but finds it hard to adjust to the farm’s daily surprises, especially those that prove to be embarrassing at school. With the help of her friend Megan, Taylor embarks on a nearly disastrous plan to move her family back to the city. But one lonely night, in the barn, Taylor discovers that farming isn’t all bad.