Bull Rider

Booklist

Told in clipped, first-person narrative, this first novel makes the sports details of skateboarding and bull-riding part of the powerful contemporary story of family, community, and work.

The Bulletin

Williams keeps a tight hold on her plot, and the book instead offers a moving portrait of a loving and realistic family faced with a painful lifelong legacy of their commitment to serving their country. Characterization is credible and family and neighborhood dynamics quietly authentic . . .

Children's Literature - Phyllis J. Perry

Cam O'Mara comes from a line of bull riders. His grandfather, father, and older brother have been champions. Even though Cam lives on a ranch, he is devoted to riding skateboards, not bulls, and he is tired of being in shadow of his older sibling. Everything changes when his teenage brother Ben, a marine, is badly wounded after returning to Iraq for a second tour of duty. There is a huge disruption in the family, and the entire household must make countless adjustments to support Ben and help in his recovery from traumatic brain injury. After hospital visits and therapy, when Ben finally comes home, confined to a wheelchair, having to re-learn how to walk and talk, there are periods of progress and periods of depression. During one of these low periods, when Ben appears to have given up on himself, Cam makes a bet that eventually leads him to ride Ugly, a fierce monster of a bull. In this story, Williams manages to convincingly combine bull riding, skate boarding, the trauma of brain injuries and their effects on soldiers and those close to them, sibling rivalry, and, above all, the strength and commitment of family. The characters of Cam and Ben emerge clearly but so do friends like Darrell Wallace who helps Cam with his algebra as well as his bull riding techniques, and family members like Grandma Jean, the prankster, always trying to raise family spirits, and Grandpa Roy, the stubborn, rock-solid foundation of this Nevada ranching family. This is a highly recommended first novel. Reviewer: Phyllis J. Perry

School Library Journal

Gr 6-9

Cam O'Mara, 14, has never ridden a bull in his life and doesn't want to, despite coming from a family of prizewinning riders in Winnemucca, NV. But when his older brother comes back paralyzed from Iraq, he gives up skateboarding for bull riding, much to the dismay of his mother and skater best friend. Partly, Cam is rebelling to get attention, but ultimately he is trying to help with the family's finances, needed to pay for travel to and from Ben's extensive rehabilitation in Palo Alto, CA. When Cam secretly enters a $15,000-prize competition using a fake ID, the family somewhat unrealistically joins together to support him afterward. Williams does an adequate job of capturing the small-town sense of community and pride and explains the rodeo lingo well enough. However, the narrative and dialogue fail to involve readers on more than a rudimentary level. Despite the timeliness of the topic, the audience for this book is limited to those with a real interest in the sport. For an emotionally charged read with a 14-year-old male protagonist, a strong sense of place, and gripping account of how a family copes in the aftermath of tragedy, suggest Gary D. Schmidt's Trouble (Clarion, 2008).-Madeline J. Bryant, Los Angeles Public Library

Kirkus Reviews

In this Nevada ranching community, riding the bulls is the community sport. Grandfather, father and big brother have all excelled, but Cam prefers skateboarding. At 14, he has immersed himself in his chosen recreation, with family, school and ranch work lagging behind. When elder brother Ben, a Marine, suffers a traumatic brain injury in Afghanistan and is shipped home, he becomes top priority for the whole family. Cam's discovery that the intensity required for bull riding is appealing sets off a chain of events that leads to an attempt to ride "Ugly," a bull that no one has ever stayed on for the requisite eight seconds. The details of recovery from debilitating injury are vividly portrayed, as well as the cost to the family of supporting their son. As Cam's world changes, the adrenaline highs balance with introspection, revealing Cam pondering his place in the world and trying to honestly deal with the results of the war. Our current military entanglements are seldom presented for teens, and this currency lifts an otherwise pedestrian effort. Surprisingly G-rated and accessible. (Fiction. 10-14)