Customer Reviews

Eight Seconds

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4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The world of bull riding is not anything that I'm familiar with. Growing up in the suburbs, my life was skateboarding and walking down to the U-Totem to pick up the latest Archie comic book. But one great thing about dating is that you constantly and endlessly exposed to the new. My boyfriend, a rodeo fan, picked up this book on a recent trip and devoured it, and handing it to me saying "Read this". I did, and found a beautiful, intriguing coming out tale.

John Ritchie is the main character, a normal teenage boy whose life on the ranch is seemingly idyllic. He has a family that loves him, chores to do, and a vision for his future, well as strong a vision that a teenage boy could have. His father suggests that he attend a rodeo school, which John cannot wait to attend. Going with his best friend Bobby, he meets Kit, a tall, strong cowboy with whom he feels an immediate attachment. Kit and John become friends, and spend their time at rodeo camp discussing how they've always felt different from others. Upon returning home from camp, John learns his new friend, challenging him to the core, both about his beliefs about homosexuality and his own internal struggling with it.

Ferris does something wonderful with this story. She allows John's eventual discovery of who he is to come slowly and naturally. It's both sweet and without much fanfare, but powerful enough to launch John on the rocky and uneven path of acceptance we've all walked. For anyone just coming out, this book shows that path, a small section of it, as a positive step forward.

Set in the world of rodeos, this book also serves as a primer for those of us city folk uninitiated with that world. The rodeo scenes were authentic and honest, and why anyone would want to sit on a bull for eight seconds is beyond me, but you appreciate the characters desires to do so.

Eight Seconds is a powerful, simple coming out story, with an interesting, unexpected ending, that left me thinking for days, as I'm sure it would you.

A good book should take you to someplace new; new surroundings, new emotional territories, new ideas. Jean Ferris has done that in this book.

In addition to the slightly exotic (to an Easterner, at least) world of Rodeo and Bull Riding,the delicate handling of a young man's heart facing a truth that will change him forever, is beautifully rendered.

Johnny's thoughts on realizing that he is gay, and that facing that truth isn't nearly as bad as denying it, say it all:

"Maybe love was love, no matter who was doing it, and if you found it, you should be glad, because it wasn't such an easy thing to find."

A sensitive subject, sensitively handled. I hope this book gains a wide readership. It touched my heart.

John went to a rodeo school to learn to ride bulls. John learns His new best friend, Kit is gay. Now John has to deal with riding bulls and pressure from his friends and family because they think being gay is indecent . Now riding bulls is easy compared to dealing with reality. He has to deal with his own sexuality and find out what is more important to him. What his friends and family think,or his friendship with Kit.

I liked this book because I am interested in rodeo,and suggest anyone else who is interested in a rodeo drama to read this book.

I thought maybe I could get it a little sooner. Its just a book.

The book was in good shape!

Well as others have said, this book is about a boy who realizes that he's gay and attracted to men which totally upsets the balance he's grown up in. What I find disappointing is that in the end, there is no redemption for the friendship that was lost to our protagonist. Sure, one could argue that one last phone call could be redemption, but it seems to me that the author wanted the story to end on a tragic note. I really enjoyed how the background was about rodeos considering the fact that I've never even been to any of those kinds of things or lived in a small town where everyone knows everyone's business. This is a great story in finding one's self and looking forward to face the future

Eight Seconds by Jean Ferris (Harcourt, Inc., 2000) tells the story of John Ritchie who lives on a working ranch near the Rocky Mountains with his parents and four sisters. He is 18 years old and feels out of place for many reasons. Besides being an only boy with so many sisters, he had to miss a year of school because of heart surgery and, so, is just finishing his junior year instead of graduating with the students who are his own age. His father shows him favoritism and has high expectations of him. His mother is inflexible and disapproves of the favoritism shown to him by his father.

John loves working with horses and takes an opportunity to attend a rodeo school during the summer. He looks forward to escaping his familiar life for six days and plans to enter the many rodeos that will be held at the upcoming county fairs. Bobby, his best friend, attends the school, too, and also, Russ, the local, big-mouthed troublemaker. John and Bobby meet Matt and Kit. Matt and Bobby opt for cow roping while John and Kit decide to learn how to ride bulls. John and Kit become fast friends, but when John returns home he learns from his older sister that Kit is gay. Throughout the rest of the summer, the boys continue to see each other at the fairs where they participate in the rodeos. John struggles with what he has learned about Kit. Russ finds out and Kit's sexual orientation becomes common knowledge and a point of contention.

The second half of the book deals with John's attempts to come to grips with this new problem in his life and how that process reveals truths and changes his existence. The story, in an unoffending manner, gives insight into a growing social issue.

The book Eight Seconds was a good book about some kids the for there high school graduation present they got to go to bull riding school. They went to the school and learned a lot about how to be a good bull rider. But while they were at the school they learned that one of their friends was gay. At first only one of them knew but eventually the others found out. Not everyone agreed with that kids decision on being gay. That caused a lot of problems throughout the book.
In this books there was a lot of imagery you really thought that you where there watching the kids ride the bulls. At one point one of the kids fell off a bull and the bull was running after him and you really thought that you were there watching it.
This books had some emotions that were stirred up because of the conflict of one of the kids being gay. Not all of the other kids thought that it was ok for him to be gay because of this there were some fights that started.
I think that this book would be good for kids to read who are around 8 - 12. It was a good book and there was a lot that you could get out of it. It also was interesting to lean some about bull riding.
In all I thought that this was a good book. But a lot of the book you could guess what was going to happen. Also a lot of the book had the same things happening over and over again.

The book Eight Seconds was a good book about some kids the for there high school graduation present they got to go to bull riding school. They went to the school and learned a lot about how to be a good bull rider. But while they were at the school they learned that one of their friends was gay. At first only one of them knew but eventually the others found out. Not everyone agreed with that kids decision on being gay. That caused a lot of problems throughout the book.
In this books there was a lot of imagery you really thought that you where there watching the kids ride the bulls. At one point one of the kids fell off a bull and the bull was running after him and you really thought that you were there watching it.
This books had some emotions that were stirred up because of the conflict of one of the kids being gay. Not all of the other kids thought that it was ok for him to be gay because of this there were some fights that started.
I think that this book would be good for kids to read who are around 8 - 12. It was a good book and there was a lot that you could get out of it. It also was interesting to lean some about bull riding.
In all I thought that this was a good book. But a lot of the book you could guess what was going to happen. Also a lot of the book had the same things happening over and over again.