Another Kind Of Cowboy

Nov 13, 2012 Jennifer Wardrip rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: trt-posted-reviews

Reviewed by Sally Kruger, aka "Readingjunky" for TeensReadToo.com

Cleo O'Shea rides horses. Her wealthy parents work in the movie business and have raised Cleo through a series of housekeepers, drivers, and other assorted caretakers. When Cleo's poor choices lead her into troubled times, they decide to enroll her in a boarding school on Vancouver Island.

An early interest in horses prompted Cleo's mother to enroll her in riding classes. In keeping with this interest, Cleo finds herself at Stonele...more

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Jan 18, 2009 Stacy268 rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult

Alex was a bit of an odd kid. He rode his bike around his home of Vancouver Island, pretending it was a horse. Things got even stranger when he saw dressage for the first time on television. He was obsessed, but somehow knew that boys weren't supposed to like dressage.

He was surprised one day when his father gave him a horse that he had won in a gambling situation. Alex loves Turnip and takes great care of him. He gets a riding coach, and trains as much as he can. But he can still never let go o...more

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Jan 07, 2011 Elisa Ramblings added it · review of another edition

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...more 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.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003NHRB6I/?...(less)

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May 26, 2009 Reader Rabbit rated it 3 of 5 stars

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 fi...more

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Apr 21, 2013 Kristina rated it 3 of 5 stars

I did enjoy this book, but perhaps it just wasn't the sort of book for me. The characters were interesting enough, especially our lead male. I enjoyed reading about the horses and the training bits, because they were knowledgable and interesting to learn about. In fact, they made me want to get on a horse and try to learn something. However, I just wasn't getting as invested in the story line as I hoped that I'd be, and this had nothing to do with the writing.

Ever since he was a small child, Al...more I did enjoy this book, but perhaps it just wasn't the sort of book for me. The characters were interesting enough, especially our lead male. I enjoyed reading about the horses and the training bits, because they were knowledgable and interesting to learn about. In fact, they made me want to get on a horse and try to learn something. However, I just wasn't getting as invested in the story line as I hoped that I'd be, and this had nothing to do with the writing.

Ever since he was a small child, Alex Ford knew that he liked horses. So, when his father finally bought him one, he was a little beside himself. Even though his parent's went through a rough patch and eventually separated, it was his horse that kept him going. When he was on that horse, he didn't have to worry about anything else in the world. It was just him and the horse. Nobody could judge him, and it was best this way.
From a young age Alex had always been fascinated with dressage. He finally works up the courage to seek out lessons, and eventually meets the spoiled and bratty Cleo O'Shea. Cleo's life hasn't exactly been a walk in the park either. Sure, her parents spoil her plenty. but they're never around. They just foot the bill and ship her off to places that are meant to fix her bad decision making. Little does anyone know, that this last place might actually help her gain some perspective.

The writing was nice. It was informative, especially the bits dealing with the horses, and it was very descriptive. The characters were described well enough and they did develop, but not in a mind-blowing realizational kind of way. That's not a strike against the writing, but I'll delve farther into that later. Honestly, I didn't find myself feeling attached to any of the characters, as much as I really wanted to. Perhaps this was due to the fact that the story was a bit blah, and I didn't feel like it was going anywhere. I mean, obviously things happened, but it just wasn't what I was expecting and there wasn't very much pizzazz.

Pacing-wise, things weren't bad. It wasn't that things were written slowly or all wonky, it was just that I wasn't feeling anything.

The characters were also nice and interesting enough. Their lives and backstories were described and detailed very nicely. Truly, we knew a lot about them, but even with all of this knowledge I still wasn't in overwhelming love with either of them. I don't know exactly what it was, but I just wasn't feeling either of them. They both also didn't seem to develop very much either. I found Alex, our lead male, interesting for his love and knowledge of horses, but also kind of boring. While he did come to terms with who he truly was and others found out about it, but it wasn't really because he told them. From the writing we could feel that he was a bit socially anxious and unknowledgable of what to say to most people, but even still, he didn't seem to do very much. It was a bit sad for me. I wanted him to do something, to say something, and he didn't. I was happy for him there in the final pages, but my mind still wasn't blown, you know?

Then, our lead female Cleo was a bit annoying. She was so jumpy and all over the place, that I never knew what the hell she was going to do next. Also, she was very spoiled and very bratty, and it really put me off of her character. Surely her character was supposed to come off as the uppity brat who was supposed to come into herself with being surrounded by hard workers and horses, but even there at the end, she was still uppity and annoying. While she did have a small realization, I still don't believe that she was really changed. I can't bring myself to believe it.

The synopsis makes this book sound like their meeting each other was vital and that they leaned on each other for support and everything. I didn't take this from the story at all. Sure, they did talk every now and again, and Alex's secret was revealed, but none of it seemed like integral character growth to me. They hung out, yes, but it didn't lead to any phenomenal realizations or confessions. To me they were more acquaintances than real friends as they're described as being in the book synopsis..

Overall, Another Kind of Cowboy was a decent read. The horses were fantastic, and the writing was nice. Sadly, the characters were a bit lackluster and didn't make me feel anything for them. Truly, this book was too blah and understimulating for my taste. There wasn't anything mind-blowingly awesome or any phenomenal realizations. Maybe that was the point. To illustrate that phenomenal things do not happen to everybody. I don't know, but it just didn't do very much for me.

☆☆☆/5
Recommend?: If you're a big fan of horses.

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Mar 23, 2013 Carin rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fierce-stunning-girls, glorious-complex-teenage-girls, horses, lgbt, ya

Delightful read, written with wry humour and full of depth. I love the combination of two of my favourite genres: young adult and horses! On top of that, the book features complex queer and female characters. The dual character voices of Alex and Cleo are glorious and unique. I thought that the third person and first person pov suited Alex and Cleo's personalities respectively (Alex's quiet, socially anxious, distant personality, Cleo's effervescent self-centredness).

oh Cleo I ADORE Cleo. She i...more

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Mar 22, 2009 Terri rated it 4 of 5 stars

I liked this book. It is another piece of literature that includes a GLBT character. I would not hesitate to recommend it not just a GLBT teen but to any teen. Though it contains drinking and drug use by both adults and teens, it is a cautionary tale in that regard. The character involved figures it out and has redeeming qualities. There really is no objectionable language and only some harmless kissing in the "sex" area. It would be appropriate for all grade levels. It is a coming-of-age tale o...more

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Feb 10, 2013 Ashley rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: white-pine-books, 2013-books

Recommendation
Recommend to any fans of Susan Juby, teens and/or fans of equestrian activities.

Review
A wonderful novel told from the perspective of two people: Cleo, a spoiled rich girl who has been sent to private school in Canada after some questionable behaviour; and Alex, a boy from a dysfunctional family who who dreams of being a dressage rider. While many parts are predictable, Juby's writing is (as always) humourous and entertaining. Alex's family is filled with memorable characters from...more

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Aug 26, 2009 Andrea rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult, glbt

Original post at The Little Bookworm

Alex is gay and he knows this but no one else does. Alex loves horses and he is good with them and has a lot of natural talent. He rides Western-style to please his father but really wants to ride dressage, loving the precision and style of it. Alex is afraid to tell his father about both his sexuality and the dressage. He is a very introverted boy, afraid of doing the wrong thing, that people will think the wrong thing about him. His family is very dysfuncti...more Original post at The Little Bookworm

Alex is gay and he knows this but no one else does. Alex loves horses and he is good with them and has a lot of natural talent. He rides Western-style to please his father but really wants to ride dressage, loving the precision and style of it. Alex is afraid to tell his father about both his sexuality and the dressage. He is a very introverted boy, afraid of doing the wrong thing, that people will think the wrong thing about him. His family is very dysfunctional. His mother left their family and his father lives in an RV in the driveway and is drunk about 95% of the time. His aunt lives in the house with him and his twin ninja-wannabe sisters. Finally when Alex meet Cleo O'Shea he is able to come out of his shell (pun intended) and realize that life is not about hiding what you are.

Cleo O'Shea accidentally let her parent's house get robbed. Since they are never around, they send to an equestrienne boarding school. She is a spoiled rich girl who is one of those girls that just assumes people like her or want to hang out with her. She has no concept of earning anything. But she has parents that don't pay any attention to her unless she is doing something negative. Without any direction in life, she falls easilty into the party girl mode. But when she meets Alex Ford, she realizes that sometimes you have to work for the good things in life.

I've had this book for a long time. I just had it. I didn't really know what it was about. It was by Susan Juby and so I figured it had to be good. (Read Alice, I Think)

It was really good. So good that I wished I had read it earlier good but then I couldn't have used it for this challenge good. So good that I was a little teary (in a good way) at the end good. It was told from first person perspective on Cleo's part and third person on Alex's part. I'm not sure why. But it worked. Alex and Cleo are an odd pairing but in the end they help each other realize what is missing from their lives. There's a lot of horse talk but it's not overwhelming. If nothing else, it makes you want to look up dressage. That is some amazing stuff. (less)

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Nov 20, 2009 Nancy rated it 3 of 5 stars

Told in alternating voices, Another Kind of Cowboy tells the story of 2 very different teenagers coming to know themselves. Cleo is from L.A., very rich and spoiled, and her father is a movie director. Alex is a local from Vancouver Island whose father is an alcoholic and his mother picked up and left looking for another life somewhere else. Alex loves horses, particularly dressage - a very refined and fancy type of riding. Cleo's parents have placed her in a rich riding/boarding school near Ale...more

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Jan 18, 2013 Stephanie A. rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: boy-protagonists, girl-protagonists, horses, contemporary-ya, animals

I wish I could get everyone to read at least the prologue - the devotion little-kid Alex pours into his bike (a pretend horse) is one of the sweetest and most sentimental things I've ever seen.

Cleo was a bit of a brat, but I loved Alex and everything else so much that this could have been (and may still become) a 5-star book. He never lies to himself about who he is, but the path to coming out is slow, thoughtful and nuanced, handled more perfectly than just about any such book I've ever seen....more

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May 30, 2012 Rebecca Alora rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: books-i-own, books-read-in-2012

Once again I was searching for some fiction dealing with the LGBT community and this is one of the four books that came up.

This book is about horses, that's something that should be said from the get go, but the equine terms that are used are always defined or you can define them yourself by inference.

Just like the book I read before this, Of All the Stupid Things, this isn't a book focused on the "coming out" and battles that come along with it. It's about learning how to make friends and app...more

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Feb 17, 2012 Jules rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: queer-themes, youngadult, family

I've had very, very bad experiences with a lot of queer-themed YA lit, and with YA stories about young women with gay friends -- at least one group of characters, either the women or the gay males, end up as caricatures. So I was pretty cautious going into this book. I am pleased to say that I thoroughly underestimated it.

The characters, first of all, were lovely -- Juby manages to walk the fine line of over-the-top ~characters~ without ever completely going overboard into cardboard. Alex and Cl...more I've had very, very bad experiences with a lot of queer-themed YA lit, and with YA stories about young women with gay friends -- at least one group of characters, either the women or the gay males, end up as caricatures. So I was pretty cautious going into this book. I am pleased to say that I thoroughly underestimated it.

The characters, first of all, were lovely -- Juby manages to walk the fine line of over-the-top ~characters~ without ever completely going overboard into cardboard. Alex and Cleo, of course, are wonderfully flawed, likeable characters, but so is much of the rest of the cast: Grace, who's a flake but genuinely loves and does right by her family, and even (especially?) Alex's father, who's trying his best to deal with things he really doesn't want to deal with, and who, moreover, I'm actually rooting for.

And Cleo. Oh, Cleo. I can't lie, I adored Cleo. I was deeply concerned, because she's a character who, in the wrong author's hands, could've been absolutely awful and flat-out offensive. Again, I vastly underestimated Juby. Cleo's a rare "poor little rich girl" who manages to be genuinely endearing -- who has an odd little sense of humor that shines when she's confident enough to let it do so, and who genuinely cares for other people but doesn't have any idea how to show that concern in any constructive way, and who learns lessons without Learning Lessons. Relatedly, another example of "things that nine times out of ten don't work for me but that Juby managed to pull off here": the flashback. We know, roughly, the backstory of how Cleo ended up at Stoneleigh, but when we finally get the flashback to Cleo and her father, his reaction to the incident that, for her, started it all, it actually works. More than works, it's downright heartbreaking: we know already that this desperate loneliness and sense of worthlessness was under the surface of her relationship with her parents; Juby has done the work to build that already. But to see how it was made explicit in the flashback is an absolute punch in the gut. That, I think, is what's key, here: this flashback augments, rather than replacing, the work Juby's done with Cleo.

On a more cheerful note! There's a lovely dry humor to ANOTHER KIND OF COWBOY -- a humor that I really don't know that I'd have gotten at sixteen or seventeen, but that, ten years later, I absolutely love. It's almost Meg Cabot-ish (and reading the acknowledgments section, Juby got a fair bit of input from Cabot), and fills the PRINCESS DIARIES-shaped hole in my heart the way not even other Meg Cabot books have managed, barreling in and being not just a decent methadone, but a lovely little gem in its own right.

That said, what happened to Detroit??? DON'T LEAVE ME HANGING, JUBY, NOW I'M ALL WORRIED. I mean, no, obvs, as Alex says, he's not going to be sold for dog food, but he's SAD, he misses Alex and Turnip and saaaaaaad. :( Also I was kind of irritated by Alex's athletic younger sisters declaring that they were gay, as well, because OBVIOUSLY athletic girls who like martial arts are lesbians (says the gay girl with a black belt in tae kwon do), and had in fact been hoping that Cleo would realize that she was gay herself, but oh well. These were tiny little missteps in the wrapping up of a thoroughly enjoyable book, and this was actually one of the few books where I got it out of the library and promptly headed to Amazon to buy a copy, because I knew I'd want to read it again. There are only a very few books that have ever managed that, so well done, Juby, well done.(less)

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Jan 14, 2012 BookChic Club rated it 5 of 5 stars

From the author of the Alice series comes a fun, but heartbreaking stand-alone story, with two realistic main characters with not-so-great pasts and not much better presents. Told through both Alex and Cleo's perspective, the reader really gets a sense of both of these characters. The voices are very different from each other and are very believable. But it's not only the main characters that get screen time, the side characters, particularly Alex's aunt Grace and sisters May and Maggie, as well...more

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Jun 10, 2009 Holly rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Horse fans

Shelves: real-life

I'll be the first person to tell you that I'm a country girl, so I figured "Hey, cowboys, country girls. Might be good." But I didn't really like it.

Cleo is, as is constantly pointed out, a spoiled rotten brat. She does have redeeming qualities, which is good. She cares about Alex and wants to help him when she can.

And Alex is...well, he's another kind of cowboy, simply put. I don't want to spoil anything. He's a sweet guy, very hardworking and I liked him. And I liked his family.

But I know noth...more

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Feb 24, 2012 Heather rated it 5 of 5 stars

Canadian young adult book about a gay cowboy! Well, kind of. Alex begins the book as a western cowboy but ends up doing something a little different. At any rate, this book was surprisingly delightful to read (and quick/easy despite the 340 page count). Canadian young adults must be much less sheltered than those in the US—this book was dropping references to the Rocky Horror Picture Show, "assless chaps," all sorts of things I wouldn't expect to find in a young adult novel. Personally, I also e...more

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Jan 17, 2011 Christie rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: library, ya

This book was not at all what I expected. A story of a boy named Alex who always wanted to ride dressage and a girl named Cleo from CA who had parents that where never around. These opposites had there lives come together. They were able to help each other realize what was important in live and grow up.

The characters were lovable and drew you right into the story. It was a quick read that I did not what to put down. With chapters written in alternating points of views it was very easy to relate...more

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Sep 26, 2009 Lydia rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: ya-lgbt

Susan Juby has a wonderful writing style, develops an interesting plot line around the subject of show horses, and managed to create a heartwarming gay character as well as a typical female teenage angst character who does not make you want to vomit! I truly enjoyed this book.

Alex Ford has what he considers a truly dysfunctional family, but learns, as he comes into his own while pursuing the fine art and horsemanship form of dressage, that maybe the family has certain redeeming qualities. Betwee...more

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May 13, 2011 MizziQ rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: never-ever-again

Ok to get this straight (no pun intended) the one star came through because the main character is gay, the plot relies on hom being gay, and that is just a bit revolting. If it DID NOT have gay people in it it very well may have gotten 4 *'s. It was grat writing and if gay books do not bother you, go for it! Its fun! It revolves around a barn adn a boy who is dedicated to horses and riding, keeping his secret..just that...a secret...until now. Surprisingly the only one who seemed able to do it w...more

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May 19, 2013 Faith rated it 2 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Horse lovers

Recommended to Faith by: My Mother's Friend

Shelves: realistic-books-non-paranormal, meh

MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS

Actual Rating: 2.5 Stars

I thought this book was decent. The author touches on some of the problems that teens deal with today: coming out, over-drinking, absent parents, and people who don't seem to care about anything. Juby tells the story of Alex, a guy who is gay but hasn't come out to anyone and Cleo, a rich chick who hangs around with the wrong crowd. The author writes about their problems while focusing on the sport of dressage, which brings the 2 characters together ta...more MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS

Actual Rating: 2.5 Stars

I thought this book was decent. The author touches on some of the problems that teens deal with today: coming out, over-drinking, absent parents, and people who don't seem to care about anything. Juby tells the story of Alex, a guy who is gay but hasn't come out to anyone and Cleo, a rich chick who hangs around with the wrong crowd. The author writes about their problems while focusing on the sport of dressage, which brings the 2 characters together taking Dressage lessons together. Throughout the story, the characters become friends and begin to become better people.

The author effectively writes about realistic Canadian teenagers in this novel. She manages to create characters that teens can relate to in some way. There is the naive rich girl, Cleo, who seems to do the wrong thing and has parents who are never there(Let me just admit, I did want to slap Cleo in the face at times). There is the gay guy, Alex, who has made himself a social outcast because he is ashamed of himself and his family. While I found both of the characters realistic, nothing about them made me love them. I couldn't even find myself really relating to them a lot because the characters were about the polar opposite of me personality and life wise. However, I'm sure a lot of readers could relate because the author writes about these problems that do affect other teens, just not me.

This book is all about horses, as you can probably tell from the title. I've never been one to read about horses. When I was younger, I tried to but I honestly gave up after a while because I would get bored (I'm a fantasy lover so contemporary fiction is not my cup of tea). So this book was a bit hard to get through when it came to the horse terms used in the novel. When the characters were at a competition, they would describe what they were doing and I'd totally zone out and end up skimming the paragraph. So, if you're a horse fanatic, you might understand all the terms and really appreciate this novel. But the good thing about the book is that there wasn't too much of the horse terminology to read about. Yes, there was a bit of it but there wasn't too much that I gave up on the book.

The plot was a little iffy for me. It's something I couldn't identify in the story. Sometimes in other books, the characters will come out and say it throughout the novel but this was not the case. I seriously can't think of it, I'm completely stumped on that. But the plot wasn't really what made me like the book. This book didn't have any real "OMG!" factor, no cliff hangers or real suspense for me (thanks fantasy books, you have desensitized me!). I just found the pace was a good speed and it was interesting to watch the characters grow out of their shells, open their eyes and see the world and life in a different way.

I also found the ending really rushed. I was at the last maybe 30 pages and BOOM, four events happen at once. I seriously think the author just threw in those events to make the last pages not seem boring. Additionally the ending leaves a lot to the imagination (which I despise because my mind comes up with the weirdest things...). Honestly, don't throw those happenings in and leave the reader with no idea what happened afterwards.

So, as you can see this book wasn't my favourite but it was an interesting read. Maybe you will like it better than I did because you love horses, connect to the characters or like the story. (less)

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Jul 27, 2012 Serith rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Queer teens and horse lovers

Shelves: glbt

I love it when a book can pull a new interest out of me. I always admired horses, but delving into this story got me into the shoes of people who REALLY love them. It provided an opportunity to enter a new world that is not the easiest to get into (as the plot illustrates). It was surprising that the story favored English style riding more than Western as the title infers, but this was a welcoming direction.

The two main characters -Alex and Cleo- were very interesting and provided completely dif...more

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Jul 03, 2012 Catie rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: ya-fiction

Though this book will appeal to horse lovers, this isn’t the typical genre horse story. Alex Ford has been fascinated with the art of Dressage ever since he watched the black-capped riders and their high-stepping horses on TV. But his alcoholic father encourages Alex to ride in the western show circuit, and the family’s finances could never support such an expensive hobby anyway; Alex believes his dream of competing in Dressage is just that—a dream. But when a chance meeting with a Dressage trai...more

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Aug 19, 2009 Becky rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: high school and up

Shelves: age-high-school

Here is a one-of-a-kind horse story that alternates narrators. Alex is a teen who has worked hard for his status in the riding world, and isn't sure what to do with his leanings toward the precise, not-very-masculine art of dressage riding, nor his growing feelings that he's gay, nor his father's increasing distance and alcoholism. Cleo is a rich, spoiled girl who is sent to boarding school in Alex's town, supposedly to become a better rider, but mostly to ensure that she doesn't get into any mo...more

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Oct 26, 2008 Kristi (The Story Siren) rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Alex has always loved horses. When Alex was six, he had a horse named Del Magnifico le Noir, except it wasn’t exactly a horse, but more of a bicycle that Alex pretended was a horse, he had reins and everything! Alex also falls in love with the riding style of dressage at an early age. He never thought in a million years that his father would win him a horse playing poker. From there on out is was Turnip and Alex. Alex loved riding Turnip and winning shows riding western style, but his true love...more

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Apr 05, 2008 Emily rated it 2 of 5 stars

Two teenagers - a closeted gay boy and a poor little rich girl - form a prickly friendship after they meet at dressage lessons.

The premise was promising, and I was interested in the Nanaimo, British Columbia setting, but this book doesn't even rise to the level of competence. Juby does all right except when she has to tackle human emotions; some of the passages have all the subtlety of an anvil.

As Alex tacked up Detroit... he was confused and dismayed by his growing feelings for his friend. Wh...more

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May 10, 2008 Andrea rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult, ya-boys, read-in-2008

Alex and Cleo, a spoiled richie from LA, meet in the world of dressage. (It's a very disciplined yet artful school of horse training, pronounced so the second syllable sounds like corsage—although throughout the book my head kept hearing the "age" part like you would say it in footage.) Cleo's movie producer parents have banished her to a fancy riding school on Vancouver Island, and Alex is a poor local cowboy who really wants to dance with his horse. Though their stories (Alex's, especially) ar...more

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Jul 16, 2012 Janet rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012, rainbow, ya-lit

Lots of issues in this book. It was a nice read, Alex wants a horse so much when his is a kid that he rides his bike (named Magnifico le Noir) around and pretends he is riding dressage. He gets the chance to ride and meets new people and opens up to new people and gets honest with himself. The book is told from his point of view and also from Cleo's POV. Cleo is a girl who goes to an exclusive riding school near where Alex lives.

Enjoyable, but almost 350 pages, so not a very quick read for me.

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Jan 10, 2008 ananka rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: 13+

Recommended to ananka by: SPL teen book listserve

This book was a breath of fresh air. It is an easy read, with well developed characters and an interesting story line.

Alex loves dressage. He loves riding horses. And it just so happens that he also loves boys. Or at least likes them. Cleo is in a local boarding school for girls where they teach english riding. She rides dressage, but it would be a leap to say that she loves anything--except for the things she's not supposed to, of course. Alex and Cleo meet when they both start taking lessons...more

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Feb 02, 2012 Lissa rated it 1 of 5 stars

Not the best book ever, but a quick read. The cover and title is misleading i thought it would be about cowboys and southern life, but was so wrong. the book is really brokeback mountain for young teens, about a "cowboy" who realizes he is gay and slowly comes to realize it. the book was not funny nor was it a enjoyable read, maybe it was the way Susan Juby writes of the fact that i had my hopes set too high about cowboys but it was not a great read, nor would i read this book again.

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Jun 16, 2010 Kellee rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: lbgt, realistic-fiction, middle-grade, ya-teen, animal-fiction

This book is about Alex and Cleo.
Both ride horses, but for very different reasons.
Both have problems, but very different problems.
Their lives cross and they begin to help each other.

I really enjoyed this book because it just seemed real. The characters seemed to be real with real problems and real families. Nothing was perfect like it is sometimes in books. It also didn't seem to be over the top, which is another way novels can go. Instead, it just all seems real.

I do want to say how much I...more

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title link	preview: Another Kind Of Cowboy
avg rating	preview: Another Kind Of Cowboy Goodreads rating: 3.51 (389 ratings)
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BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/857657.Another_Kind_Of_Cowboy?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1192348061l/857657.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/857657.Another_Kind_Of_Cowboy?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Another Kind Of Cowboy by Susan Juby[/url]

Another Kind Of Cowboy

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