Love and Country — Christina Adam

When rodeo practice begins, young Kenny Swanson is hugely disappointed to learn that he won't be able to compete. He and his mother, Lenna, have just moved to a new town and can't afford the risk of injury that is a fact of riding broncs. But a boy's dreams die hard, and Kenny is soon hanging on a fence rail, watching the local rodeo star.

Kenny's longing drives LOVE AND COUNTRY's singular story of four seasons in a high valley in Idaho -- a complex and poignant year of discovery for him and others in this mesmerizing first novel. As Lenna struggles to find a place for herself -- alone with her son, surrounded by vast and sometimes frightening open spaces -- Kenny witnesses death on a hunting trip with his estranged father, risks the consequences of breaking colts, helps a mare to foal, and learns the meaning of forgiveness.