2. Coming of age/Discovering sexuality, Ages 12 and up

3. The main characters are John and Kit. John is a year behind in school due to heart surgery when he was a baby. He is eighteen. Kit is a college student who is going to become a veterinarian.

4. Plot

John feels he is out of step with the world in Montana. He often finds himself in fights with bullies, where he holds his own, but he is generally viewed by everyone as "Gentleman John," a nice guy. John loves his family, but his older sisters are either married or in college, and his younger sister, Clemmie, who adores him, is a pest. John still plays with her, however. He gets along with his parents, but his mother expects too much from him. His girlfriend, Kelsey, also expects too much from him. John feels that she believes that they will be married one day, but John doesn't feel that way about Kelsey, and he breaks up with her. John is thrilled when he learns that his father has arranged for him to attend Rodeo School so that he can more successfully compete in rodeos at local fairs. He goes to this camp with his best friend, Bobby, and Russ, a bully with whom he often fights, also is attending. John meets Kit the first day, and he and Kit become friends. When John discovers that Kit is gay, he isn't sure how he feels. They are friends, but John lives in a world where homophobic behaviors and attitudes often prevail. John also has feelings for Kit that he doesn't understand. There is a certain chemistry between them. As the summer progresses and they all compete in local rodeos, John struggles with his feelings. He even attacks Kit at one point because he doesn't understand his feelings for him. In the end John loses Kit as a friend, but he does come to accept his own new sexuality and vows to open himself up to new possibilities in his life. He never again wants to lose a relationship with someone like Kit.

5. Touchy Areas

Obviously, homosexuality creates a wide range of feelings in people. This book, however, addresses this subject at an emotional level and does so with style and grace. Also, there are no explicit descriptions of same-sex sexual behavior.

6. Related Titles

Tex by S.E. Hinton (1979), Night Kites (1997) by M.E. Kerr, The Journal of Joshua Loper: A Black Cowboy (1999) by Walter Dean Meyers

7. Movies: When the Legends Die (1963), Tex (1982), The Cowboy Way (1994), and The Horse Whisperer (1998)

Art: See any of Frederick Remington's paintings

Classics: When the Legends Die (1963) by Hal Borland

Adult Classics: Cowboy Angst (1995) by Jasen Emmons, The Horse Whisperer (1995) and The Loop (1998) by Nicholas Evans, Cormac McCarthy's Border Trilogy: All the Pretty Horses (1992), The Crossing (1994), and Cities of the Plain (1998)

8. Evaluation

I think Ferris does an excellent job of dealing with the issues that might be present if a young person like John discovered that his sexual preference was homosexual and he lived in the geographic location and cultural environment where this story takes place. I think this book might be valuable to young adults for several legitimate reasons, not the least of which is its careful delineation of the struggle any of us face when we move from denial to a new understanding and eventual acceptance of who we are.

9. Reviewed by