When Legands Die

Essay by EssaySwap ContributorHigh School, 11th grade February 2008

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A reader's first impression of When Legends Die by Hal Borland will be boring because it starts off slow. But he or she will soon realized it is an interesting and easy to read fiction story. This is a story of an orphan who is taken in by numerous people in his life.

As a young boy, Tom Black lives on his own after both of his parents passed away. He grows up living in the wilderness with the animals being his brothers and sisters. When people take him in from a nearby town, he is forced to leave his animal family and start a life of civilization.

While Tom is being civilized he begins to ride wild horses. A man named Red Dillon sees Tom riding a horse and convinces Tom to go back to his ranch to better his riding skills. After training with Red, Tom enters rodeos and shows off his skill.

Tom is forced to do what Red tells him just so Red can win money. Red tells Tom to fall in the finals so he can win money. Tom gets upset with Red telling him to loose on purpose because he knows he can win.

Red becomes ill and dies. Tom continues going to rodeos showing off his skill. He takes a harsh fall in one of the rodeos and is put in the hospital. When he goes home, he becomes a shepherd. While herding sheep he thinks about his childhood and realizes the things he is missing. He slowly returns to he old ways in the wilderness and realizes he is happier there.

As the reader of this book I feel out of ten it is a seven. I would recommend this book to high school readers.