Little Britches, by Ralph Moody
"In 1906, Ralph Moody's father was persuaded to move to Colorado to become ranchers. When they arrived at their new home, it was in desperate need of repair. The family did this and built a wing to the house for bedrooms plus a barn. One day a giant wind blew through and destroyed the barn and damaged the roof of the house. During this time the family makes friends with the neighbors. They build a new barn and repair the roof and add a basement to the house. Father buys a couple of horses to help on the ranch. Father later buys chickens, a couple of pigs, and a cow. Ralph got a job for herding cows and his first day was not good. He gets better though. Father has to take part in the water wars because farmers keep taking too much water. Father built a contraption to keep water at the same level at each farm. Unfortunately the next year the water joggers destroy theirs. The rest of the farmers take the case to court and win but tragedy strikes as Father is killed by water joggers. Father had been a good man and had done what is right. All while this was happening Ralph had become a cow pie at Mr. Coopers. He gets to work with his friend Hi who is a cowboy. Together they won a contest and with the money Ralph had earned, the family would be able to move to Littleton. A couple days later after Father had died, Ralph was asked to pray. That night he became a man."
Timothy, age 14