Grasslands

By Debra Seely

Book Overview

Thirteen-year-old Thomas Hunter has always longed to taste the freedom of life on the Western range, away from the stuffy home and watchful eyes of his well-to-do grandparents in Virginia. So when a letter arrives from his father inviting Thomas to join him and his new family on their Kansas farm,he can already see himself riding across the prairie like a real cowboy, living the true Code of the West.Yet the hardscrabble farm isn't what Thomas expected. There's hardly enough food; his new stepmother doesn't approve of his ways; and he spends all his time mucking out the barn and working the fields.Then, just as Tomas begins to grow restless, his family's herd gets swept up in a cattle stampede and he must follow a group of cowboys to reclaim it. Finally facing the prairie adventures he's dreamed of, he finds himself confronted with challenging decisions, eye-opening action, and an honor to uphold that calls for the real Code of the West. Does Thomas have what it takes to be a true Western hero?

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 082341731X
• ISBN13: 9780823417315
• Release Date: September 2002
• Publisher: Holiday House
• Length: 170 Pages
• Weight: 0.82 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.8" x 8.4"
• Age Range: 10 to 14 years
• Grade Range: Grades 5 to 9

Customer Reviews

Great Historically-Accurate Prairie Adventure for Kids

This book shows the real west from a kids point of view. The good, the bad, and the ugly all mixed in with the sensitivity of an author who has roots in the area. I enjoyed the book tremendously and it revealed many new aspects of the prairie life that CLint Eastwood movies failed to mention. Its a refreshingly frank view of the real hardships on the prairie that gives me even more respect for the grit and determination of the early settlers.It was clearly well researched and fact based. More importantly, since its targeted to kids - I gave this book to my nieces and nephews as a Christmas gift. They couldn't put it down and were asking for 'the rest of the story' which Ms Seely provides in Last of the Roundup Boys.