Tex (Mass Market Paperback)

by S.E. Hinton (Author) "There ain't no bear in that bush," I said..." (more)
Key Phrases: Cole Collins, Miss Carlson, Lem Peters (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Easy going, thoughtless, and direct, Tex at 15 likes everyone and everything. Life with his 17-year-old brother, Mason, would be just about perfect if only Mason would stop complaining about Pop, who hasn't been home in five months. Mason just wants to leave Oklahoma for good. Can Tex keep it all together?

From the Publisher
Easygoing, thoughtless, and direct, Tex at fifteen likes everyone and everything, especially his horse, Negrito, and Johnny Collins's blue-eyed sister, Jamie. He thinks life with his seventeen-year-old brother, Mason, in their ramshackle house would be just about perfect if only Mace would stop complaining about Pop. Pop hasn't been home in five months. Mace wants to get out of Oklahoma. Tex just seems to attract trouble and daneger . . . Suddenly everything's falling apart. Can Tex keep it all together?

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Product Details

• Reading level: Young Adult
  
• Mass Market Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Laurel Leaf (October 1, 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0440978505
• ISBN-13: 978-0440978503
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (67 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #19,686 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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  #75 in	Books > Children's Books > People & Places > Family Life > Siblings > Fiction
  #96 in	Books > Teens > Social Issues > Being a Teen

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Finally a character with stability., September 26, 2005

By	Daiku "We do not stop playing because we grow... (USA) - See all my reviews

I read this and the other S.E. Hinton staple books ("The Outsiders," "That Was Then, This is Now," and "Rumble Fish") repeatably as a teenager. This is one of the few Hinton books that will not seem as dated as others, as it is set in more of a country setting rather than city.

Of all of Hinton's protagonists, Tex is by far the most innocent and sweet, even referred to as Bambi by another character. More remarkably, Tex comes out of this book retaining that sweetness while coming to terms with a less than innocent discovery. Simply put, he a good boy repeatedly in the wrong time at the wrong place. He loves his horse and resents it bitterly when his older brother is forced to sell it in order for them to survive. They have an absentee father riding the rodeo circuit, and Tex's older brother has been forced to give up a basketball scholarship to attend to Tex's upbringing. As the book continues, his brother becomes increasingly frustrated and even violent, moreso than circumstances would call for. It is only when their father returns home, resulting in an argument between father and older brother, that a haunting secret comes out, causing Tex to run away.

Per his character, he runs to the wrong place at the wrong time, the city and an old friend of his brother who has built a life dealing drugs. The already upset Tex unwittingly arrives at a drug-deal gone bad, getting shot in the process. The shooting ironically causes a healing for his family, and an acceptance of the truth. The whole family learns to look past it and move on, growing.

Sharp-eyed readers will be able to find out what happened to Mark from "That Was Then, This is Now," as well as his particular relationship to Tex, unbeknownst to all.

I intend to give this to my son soon, for its lessons of blood being thicker than water, the dangers of drugs, and the inevitableness of growing up.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Tex, October 11, 2006

A Kid's Review

In this book, there is a kid named Texas, and he is fifteen. At the beginning of the story, everything is going his way. Later it all started to go downhill; everything went wrong. Texas and his older brother Mason were running out of money. Things just keep getting worse.
I really liked this book. There was lots of action throughout the whole book. I got really confused a few times in the book, and I would have to go back and reread the part a few times so that I knew what was going on. I think that it takes a few chapters to get into the story so if you're like that, don't give up on it. Trust me, the book gets really good. After the first couple of chapters, I just couldn't put it down! I recommend this book to anybody that likes to read.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Classically Intriguing, February 15, 2002

A Kid's Review

This is a great book. This story centers around Tex, a fifteen year-old boy who lives with his eighteen year-old brother on their father's ranch out west. Tex wonders everyday when his father will return. Later in the story, Tex learns that there are two kinds of people, those going, and those staying. In the end of the story, Tex learns that even life with his brother is better than life on the streets.
This book is set apart by its complex and colorful characters. The book is written with dialogue that sounds like any small town in the American West. The plot takes several intriguing twists, making for a very engrossing story.