Acclaimed author Dusti Bowling takes the bull by the horns in this moving novel about a boy struggling to keep his family together while facing the side effects of bull riding.
Thirteen-year-old Canyon loves bull riding, but the sport doesn't exactly love him back. His body is in constant pain and doctors have warned him about the dangers of his repeated concussions, but bull riding is the only thing he and his dad connect on ever since Canyon's mom died. Canyon is convinced winning the Junior World Bull Riding championship will be the thing to bring them together again, that once he has that shiny belt buckle all the pain will be worth it. Besides, Canyon has a secret way to help his hurt: playing the fiddle.
When Canyon is unexpectedly chosen for a music competition show, a new dream begins to form. But Dad is getting worse, and Canyon feels more pressure than ever to hold his family together--even if it means choosing to hurt himself bull riding over healing through music. Soon Canyon begins to wonder if he's holding on to all the right things, or if there are some he needs to let go of.---from the publisher
240 pages 978-1547616060 Ages 9-12
Keywords: father/son, family life, bull riding, music, competition, dealing with feelings, dealing with sadness, dealing with emotion, healing, boys' issues, loss, grief, 9 year old, 10 year old, 11 year old, 12 year old, sports
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Sometimes when the mother dies, the whole family falls apart. Sometimes when the mother dies the only thing that keeps the father moving is the next bottle of alcohol. Sometimes when the mother dies it means the boy, the big brother, is going to have to do anything he can to keep what's left of his family together. That boy is Canyon. He remembers the day his father told Canyon's mother, "He's a Cress. He was born to be a bull-rider." Now, Canyon rides bull after bull and breaks bone after bone waiting and hoping that this ride, this trip to the hospital, will be the one that wakes his father up from his grief and brings him back to take care of Canyon and his sister Josie. This time will be the time that gives him his father back.
What guy doesn't need his father? What guy doesn't look for his father's approval and love? As you read this story, you can feel the pain in Canyon's body as he gets slammed by bull after bull and suffers concussion after concussion. You can also feel the pain in his heart where he hopes he can finally be enough, finally hurt enough, to bring his father back.
This is a story about a boy who has to be a man long before his time. This is a story about a father who has deep emotional pain and has no idea what to do with it except to try to make it go away with a few more drinks. How many of our children live in a family where escapism is the mental health route of choice? We've got boys and girls out there who watch domestic violence, who fear their own parents, who know pain and have no idea how to escape.
Dusti Bowling has written a book for them. They deserve to find a way to heal and a way to love themselves and to love life itself. The drug problem in America is born of the pain that seems to have no answer except the next bottle, the next dose of drugs, violence, cutting, shopping, etc.
Our boys and our girls deserve help. Sometimes you get that help when you read a story and see yourself. Step one. Recognize how you feel. Step two is asking for help. School counselors can be that help.
Recommended by: Barb Langridge, abookandahug.com
