Throw a Hungry Loop

Texan Tres Bomer is in eighth grade, and his greatest ambition is to become a professional rodeo cowboy. But he can't tell his family about these dreams--his grandfather, a rancher, does not hold with the rodeo, and his father has his own troubles, mostly to do with excessive drinking. What Tres needs is a good roping horse, and he comes up with a plan to sell his heifer and buy an ex-racehorse from his friend Coot's brother. A mixture of Zane Grey and S. E. Hinton, this novel is a perfect Western: the ranch problems are cleared up, the family reaffirmed, the boy grows up some and gets his horse, and he rides off--almost into the sunset--to get the girl. Schenker's novel should win readers over to a neglected genre for young people. Ages 11-up. (Sept.)