Tom is a boy who lives with his parents, sister, and grandfather on a farm in southwestern Oklahoma. He is bored with country life in the beginning due to just moving from a city, but his grandpa tells him of the nearby mountains and all there is to explore. Tom finds a friend named Justin who lives through the pass. Tom's grandpa warns him of Panther Peak and tells him to stay away from that area. Tom and Justin think the stories of panthers are not true and begin exploring in that area. One day while swimming Tom comes face to face with the panther and is frightened, but is not sure of what it was because he had never seen a panther before. During the winter neighbors and Tom's family begin losing livestock to the panther and the men go hunting it, but fail. One evening when Tom's sister is sick and is taken to the hospital the panther shows up while Tom and his grandpa are milking the cows. The panther runs away, but grandpa falls and breaks his hip and Tom must drag him to the house all the while a terrible snow storm is blowing through. Then Tom must ride to Justin's house to get help. The panther finds him and Justin is able to shoot the panther just before it attacks him. His father finds him passed out with the panther on top of him, dead.
This was an exciting story and would be a great book for boys around 8-11 years old.
It would be entertaining for a class of boys to read and since the setting is in Oklahoma, a geography lesson could be intertwined. ( )

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