Sheep

The sheep closed in around him like a big, woolly blanket. The puppy had never been so scared or so excited in his life. Soon he was racing, feinting, dodginglearning what it means to be one of the proud breed of Border collies, the finest sheepherders in the world. Then, almost overnight, his life is turned upside down. He finds himself in a series of strange places, with no sheep, his family gone. With nothing but the courage he was born with and a dream, he searches for the life he once knew, gathering names and adventures as he goes. For a short time, he's called Blackie. To the Goat Man, he's Shep. To Hollerin, he's Spot. There's one name that threatens to haunt him foreverSparky, the name Billy the circus man calls him. But there's another name that he is given, one that finally makes him feel at home. . . .

Valerie Hobbs is the author of many acclaimed books for young adults, such as Tender and Defiance (available in Summer 2009 from Square Fish). Her next book, Lucy in the Sky, will be available from FSG in Spring 2010. She lives in Santa Barbara, California.

From Sheep
Sheep everywhere! The truck stopped, and they closed in all around us like a big gray woolly blanket, bawling and baaing, stinking like, well, like sheep . . . They were bigger than I was, every last one, and so many I couldn’t count them, more sheep than I thought there were in the whole wide world . . .
     I ran back and forth, trying to look like I knew what I was doing, practicing my sheep eye. The sheep ignored me, like I was a pesky fly. After a while Dad told me to calm down, but I couldn’t. I’d gotten a taste of what life was all about, and I didn’t want to miss a second of it . . .
     It was tricky, but when you got the sheep going the way they were supposed to, you were happy inside. It was better than a good meal, better than a rubdown, even better than Mom saying you were her own best boy . . . When the sheep were right, you had that deep down good feeling that you were making a difference. You were doing what you were meant to do, what you believed in, what you were really good at.
     I’ll tell you, nothing in the world is better than that.