The Haymeadow

by Gary Paulsen

Book Overview

Fourteen-year-old John comes of age and gains self-reliance during the summer he spends up in the Wyoming mountains tending his father's herd of sheep. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0440409233
• Release Date: February 1994
• Publisher: Yearling
• Length: 208 Pages
• Weight: 0.36 lbs.
• Dimensions: 7.6" x 0.6" x 5.3"

Customer Reviews

A great book!!!

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.

The Hawmeadow

This book is great. It tells a story about a courageous 14 year old boy who is stuck watching 6000 sheep for a whole summer alone except for 4 dogs and 2 horses in the mountains of Wyoming. He encounters a rattlesnake,scunk,bear,coyotes,and a flood. This is a suspenseful story that when you start reading it and you don't want to put it down.Amy F.

John spends an isolated in the mountains with 6,000 sheep

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.