Welcome to My Personal
Window to Imagination
Summer/Fall 2010 -
My Challenge to Ohio Middle Schoolers:
THE BEEF PRINCESS OF PRACTICAL COUNTY is a finalist for the 2010 Buckeye Children's Book Award! It was chosen along with 4 other awesome middle-grade titles. So, here is my challenge to you: Read all 5 books and VOTE for your favorite, even if it's not THE BEEF PRINCESS. To see the list, go to
and then vote from September 1 - November 10th!
Now Booking School Visits for the 2010-2011 School Year! Michelle Houts would love to visit your elementary or middle school next year. For more information, see the Author Appearances tab to your left or send Michelle an email.
April 19, 2010: WOW! The Beef Princess of Practical County has won the 2010 International Reading Association Children's Book Award for Intermediate Fiction! I'm going to Chicago next week to accept the award in person at the IRA Convention! Pinch me, please!
Welcome! In my kitchen there is a plaque that reads: “Home is where your story begins.” Well, the view from my country home usually includes cornfields, kids, and assorted critters, and it’s the place where my characters are born. Come on in and take a peek through my window to imagination.
The Beef Princess of Practical County
After years of waiting, it is finally Libby Ryan’s turn to shine at the Practical County Fair. Libby is filled with excitement as she and her granddad pick out two calves for her to raise on her family’s cattle farm, in hopes of winning the annual steer competition. Against her father’s advice, Libby gives the calves names, even though both steers will eventually be auctioned off to the highest bidder.
What's the big deal? She's lived on a cattle farm forever. But, after a few months of preparing for the Practical County Fair, Libby finds that she is becoming more and more attached to her steers. When Libby's mother convinces her to enter the Beef Princess pageant, Libby realizes that she'll have to face off against the dreaded Darling sisters. Suddenly, everything related to the Practical County Fair feels like a big deal.
Luckily, Libby can count on her best friend to get her through most of the county fair chaos. Yet once reality sets in and she realizes that her steers will soon be sold to the highest bidder, the chaos in Libby’s heart becomes too much to bear.