Steering Toward Normal

February 24, 2014
Despite his bucolic surroundings, eighth-grade 4-H member Diggy Lawson is anything but tranquil. First, there’s the pressure to please his crush July Johnston, a high school senior and champion cattlewoman, by winning a grand prize at the Minnesota State Fair. Then Diggy’s classmate Wayne shows up at the doorstep and turns out to be Diggy’s half-brother. After Wayne moves in with Diggy and his single father, the boys compete to see who can raise the better steer while vying for their father’s affection. Diggy is jealous of July’s attention to Wayne and wonders if his half-brother will stand in his way of winning a ribbon at the fair. And why is Wayne so anxious to locate Diggy’s mother, who “left town on a tractor” when Diggy was a baby? First-time author Petruck’s account of country life is never dull as she depicts the strong work ethic of cattlemen and women, along with the universal conflicts between siblings. If Diggy’s father takes the discovery of a second son a little too well, he remains a stable force effectively contrasting his temperamental sons. Ages 9–13. Agent: Kate Schafer Testerman, kt literary.

April 1, 2014
An eighth-grader rediscovers the importance of family in this debut. Since being left as a baby on Pop's doorstep, Diggy Lawson has been content living on a farm in rural Minnesota. He raises steers for competition at the state fair and has surrounded himself with 4-H friends. Diggy has a secret crush on senior 4-H'er July. Everything changes the day fellow eighth-grader Wayne Graf is left at Diggy's house, dropped off by his drunken father three weeks after his mother's funeral. As it turns out, Pop is also Wayne's biological father. While Pop and Wayne negotiate their relationship, Diggy spends time with his steer, Joker, and tries to ignore the changes caused by Wayne's presence. Then Wayne decides that the best way to escape his mother's family and the alcoholic Mr. Graf is to raise his own steer and win the $12,000 Grand Champion prize. Once Wayne convinces July that he is serious about competing, he soon has a steer of his own. Diggy is left questioning his relationship with Wayne, his 4-H friends and even his dad. Petruck uses research and her own experience as a former member of 4-H to flesh out the narrative, sometimes letting factual details and livestock lingo overshadow it and its universal themes of family, friendship and acceptance. Humor sustains this look at real life in the heartland. (author's note, glossary) (Fiction. 9-13)

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April 1, 2014

Gr 6-8-A rural small town in Minnesota creates a backdrop for a realistic story focused on relationships and emotions. Diggy Lawson finds out that he has a half brother when his classmate Wayne is dropped off at his house following the death of Wayne's mother and he learns that they share a father. Amidst anger, confusion, grief, competiveness, and even some amusing pranks, Diggy and Wayne both end up raising steers with support from 4-H to enter into the fair. Diggy's anger and confusion seem quite typical for an eighth grader, but his vacillating struggle with these feelings doesn't seem to follow a recognizable path toward growth and reconciliation. The effect is that readers are swept up in Diggy's confusion rather than identifying with it from the role of a sympathetic spectator. Additionally, the plot arc seems flat, as Diggy's emotions seem to reset every couple months. Readers unfamiliar with the routines and sensations of caring for livestock may have difficulty becoming engaged in the overall narrative.While this book fits in a mostly empty niche market for stories about 4-H, it may not be worth purchasing for other communities.-Erin Reilly-Sanders, Ohio State University, Columbus

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May 1, 2014
Grades 5-8 Eighth-grader Diggy wants to raise a champion steer and win the grand prize at the Minnesota State Fair, thereby impressing his crushgraduating senior and last year's grand champion July. Raising a calf requires hard work and sacrifice, but with Pop's support, Diggy is ready to put in the hours. His careful routine is unsettled when Wayne, a town boy, is dumped at their farm late one night by his drunken father. Wayne's mother has recently died, bringing to light an infidelity that shocks the whole town: Pop is Wayne's biological father. Suddenly Diggy has a half brother competing for Pop's attention, attending Diggy's 4H meetings, and asking questions about Diggy's own absent mother. When Wayne decides he is going to raise a steer, too, Diggy has had it. In Petruck's capable hands, raising a steercaring for it, loving it, and eventually letting it gobecomes a keen metaphor for the loss of a loved one. Diggy is a perceptive narrator, but not unusually so for his age, and it's reassuring to see him sort out his tangled feelings.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)