Change

"The Haymeadow" by Gary Paulsen starts with 14 year old John Barron stepping out of the ranch house, looked around, and felt like things were about to change. He didn't know what the change was and he thought it might be that is was going to rain.
The ranch was getting ready to take the sheep up to the haymeadow. The haymeadow was in a valley up in the mountains. It was four square miles of grass that was between two ridges at or above the timber line. They used to let the cattle graze up there, but now all they had was sheep. So the sheep would graze in the haymeadow all summer and one of the hands, Tink, would stay alone with the sheep and four dogs for three months. The dogs were trained at rounding up and moving the sheep from place to place.
John doesn't know it, but the change that was coming had to do with him. He's old enough now to pull his own weight on the ranch and to learn the truth about his great grandfather.