Easygoing, thoughtless, and direct, Tex at fifteen likes everyone and everything, especially his rambling rodeo-riding father; his horse, Negrito; and Johnny Collins's blue-eyed sister, Jamie. He thinks life with his older brother in their ramshackle house would be just about perfect if only Mace would stop complaining about Pop and forget all his schemes to leave Oklahoma. With so many changes in his life, are his carefree days gone forever?