A review by nerfherder86
The Beef Princess of Practical County by Michelle Houts

4.0

Fun story about raising a steer for the county fair. I learned a lot about cows and county fairs in this book! Twelve year old Libby lives on an Indiana cattle farm, and has always dreamed of showing a steer that would become the Grand Champion; she wants to outshine her older brother, who's been the family champion cow-show-person. (See, I don't even know how to describe this stuff, I am such a city girl!) She ends up with two steer, one's docile and perfect, while the other is stubborn and ornery. But she gets really attached to them both. She also, to her horror, gets signed up to be in the Beef Princess pageant! Libby's just not a beauty pageant kind of girl, and she has to compete against the Darling sisters, who don't know much about cows but who always win at pageants. They're a hoot, very snooty and named "Precious" Darling, "Ohma" Darling, etc. It's a cute story about competition and friendship, Fair and farm life, and why it's never a good idea to become overly fond of cattle that go up to auction.