| Tex | |
| Author: | S. E. Hinton |
| Cover Artist: | Gary Watson (illustration) Leo McRee (typography) |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
| Genre: | Young adult fiction |
| Publisher: | Delacorte Press |
| Pub Date: | 1979 |
| Media Type: | |
| Pages: | 194 pp. |
| Isbn: | 0-440-08641-8 |
| Isbn Note: | (First edition hardcover) |
| Oclc: | 5103322 |
| Dewey: | [Fic] |
| Congress: | PZ7.H5976 Te |
| Preceded By: | Rumble Fish |
| Followed By: | Taming the Star Runner |
Tex is a novel by S. E. Hinton, published in 1979. The book (like Rumble Fish and That Was Then, This Is Now) takes place in the same universe as Hinton's first book The Outsiders, but in a rural town called Garyville, Oklahoma, a fictional suburb of Tulsa.
Tex and his older brother Mason live by themselves while their father tours the rodeo circuit. Tex is blissfully happy with his life. He likes simple things and taking it easy. Mason, on the other hand, must step into a parental role when their father is gone for five months touring rodeos. Their mother is dead, so the two of them must fight to meet their financial obligations. The boys' lives are slowly being disrupted.
A film adaptation was released in 1982, starring Matt Dillon in the title role.
The book opens with Tex McCormick, a 15-year-old who loves horses, and his brother Mason (Mace), living in a country home in a small town. Jamie is the girl next door. Their mother died years before, and their father goes off for months at a time leaving Mace, a high school senior and a star basketball player, and Tex at home.
Tex comes home to find the two brothers' horses sold. Tex considered his horse Negrito a friend, but Mace had to sell the horses to ensure they would have enough to eat through the winter. This action sets Tex against his brother for most of the book.
Living in the larger ranch house next door are the Collinses, who include Mace’s best friend Bob, Tex's best friend Johnny, and the younger sister whom Tex loves, Jamie. The children are forbidden to see Mason and Tex because the Collins patriarch, Cole, thinks they are a bad influence.
After a turn of events involving Tex and Mace's father, Tex runs away to the city with a family friend. He eventually learns that just living life and staying with his brother is the best thing for him.
The New York Times praised Hinton's "[keen]" rendering of the American Southwest and her depiction of the "bewilderments of adolescence". However, the review ultimately concluded that the novel was an unconvincing portrayal of contemporary teenage life: "Tex smacks, somehow, of Snoopy's It Was a Dark and Stormy Night, busier and more melodramatic than the real life it purports to show."[1]
Kirkus Reviews affirmed that "the nerve she hit in The Outsiders can't be so tapped again" but commended Hinton for handling her "obvious exhortation, melodramatic plots, and brotherly bonds with that disarming empathy [...] which wins kids' unqualified assent."[2]
See main article: Tex (film). A film adaptation starring Matt Dillon, Jim Metzler, and Meg Tilly was produced by Walt Disney and released by their Buena Vista Film Distribution Company in 1982. Directed by Tim Hunter, the film was shot on location in Oklahoma. Upon its release, the film received positive reviews from critics but underperformed at the box office.[3]