The Sweetheart of Prosper County

Tweens want to grow up as fast as they can, and for my high-level, high-volume 11-year-old reader, I’ve found that it can be difficult to find appropriate reading material that is between elementary novels and the young adult fare that is targeted for high-schoolers.

The Sweetheart of Prosper County by Jill S. Alexander fits the bill.

Austin Gray is 14 years old and is determined to make it into the annual Christmas parade that her small-town in Texas hosts. She think that if she can ride on the hood of a car in that parade, Dean Ottmer will stop tormenting her, and her life will take a turn for the better.

She asks for a chicken for Christmas so that she can win a blue ribbon and be eligible for the FFA (Future Farmers of America) Sweetheart position and win a place in the parade. Charles Dickens (the chicken) brings a lot to her and her mother’s lives and those of the hardware store that they own.

It’s a season of change for Austin and her mother — other than becoming chicken-raisers. Austin is finally ready to gently nudge the strict limits that her mother imposed in fear (after Austin’s dad was killed in a reckless car accident).

This book has a few mild curse-words, a very very light romance (hand-holding and a kiss), but in general it’s an innocent coming of age story about friendship, rivalries, and small towns that will appeal to ages 11 and up.

Jennifer Donovan never aspired to be a parade sweetheart or raise a chicken. She was too busy burying her nose in a book. She blogs at Snapshot.