by Fred Gipson
First published 1989
Travis stands at the edge of manhood on his family's Texas farm. At fourteen, he must shoulder responsibilities that would challenge grown men. The frontier demands hard choices from those who call it home. Travis learns that survival requires more than courage when he faces decisions that will test everything he believes about duty and love. The harsh beauty of early Texas shapes both the land and the people who work it. Travis discovers that becoming a man means accepting burdens that cut deep into the heart. Some choices leave scars that never fully heal, but they forge the strength needed to endure. This is a story about the price of growing up when the stakes are life and death.
Genres: fiction, family, american-fiction, 20th-century, american, adventure, coming-of-age, 19th-century
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: coming-of-age, found-family
Setting: Texas
Period: 19th-Century
117 pages · Paperback · Harpercollins Childrens Books