- Mass Market Paperback: 192 pages
- Publisher: Puffin USA; Reprint edition (May 30 2002)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0142301213
- ISBN-13: 978-0142301210
- Product Dimensions: 16.8 x 10.7 x 1.3 cm
- Shipping Weight: 91 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,228,512 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
EIGHT SECONDS Jean Ferris. "Ferris tackles issues of tolerance, homosexuality and self-discovery in this insightful and atmospheric novel set in rodeo country," said PW in a starred review. "A fast-paced ride that will leave readers thinking." Ages 12-up. (May)n
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
From School Library Journal
Gr 9 Up-Between his junior and senior years in high school, John Ritchie and his best friend spend a week at rodeo school. One of the young men there, Kit, strikes John as intensely interesting, both in his graceful, confident demeanor and in his calm attitude toward both bulls and the town bully. After he returns home, John learns that Kit is gay. They meet from time to time during the summer, and at summer's end, John realizes that he is gay as well. Ferris tells this realistic story with insight and balance between revelation and ambivalence. The teenaged boys, with the exception of the bully, are well-rounded characters whose motives, self-understanding, and social awareness are differentiated, authentic, and, for the most part, compassionate. The adults, as well as the minor female characters, including John's three sisters, are also genuinely presented as imperfect but well intentioned. Older readers who have negotiated the earliest stages of coming out depicted here will understand that John's story is far from over. Younger readers who are unsure of their sexual identity may be made fearful by John's frank assessment of the hardships he faces in the upcoming year without any mediating thought that, once it's over, he'll have gotten through it, and will be able to start living in a new place. Ferris's novel should not stand alone as representing gay issues, but it is a good companion novel for booktalking along with Ronald Koertge's Arizona Kid (Avon, 1989) and Liza Ketchum's Blue Coyote (S & S, 1997).-Francisca Goldsmith, Berkeley Public Library, CA
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Browse and search another edition of this book.
First Sentence
WITH "HONKY TONK NIGHTTIME MAN" BLARING from the radio, Bobby gunned the truck down the dark, empty highway, grinning in spite of the blood on his shirt. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
WITH "HONKY TONK NIGHTTIME MAN" BLARING from the radio, Bobby gunned the truck down the dark, empty highway, grinning in spite of the blood on his shirt. Read the first page
Explore More
Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organize and find favorite items. |
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Deaing with issues,
By Cody Davis (Locust Grove OK USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Eight Seconds (Hardcover)
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.
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Whole New World,
By
This review is from: Eight Seconds (Mass Market Paperback)
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.
3.0 out of 5 stars
ok book,
By A Customer
This review is from: Eight Seconds (Mass Market Paperback)
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.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Want to see more reviews on this item?
|
Most recent customer reviews |
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
