From the author of "The Homesman," Glendon Swarthout's "Bless the Beasts & Children" is the classic coming-of-age novel that explores the fabric of the American ideal--as seen through the eyes of rebellious youth.
"Send us a boy--we'll send you a cowboy" It doesn't matter if the kid hates the sight of horses. Or if he still sucks his thumb and wets the bed. He's got to be taught to toe the line. To measure up. To dig in his spurs--because that's the way things are at the Box Canyon Boys Camp in Arizona.
Based on the adventures of the author's own son, "Bless the Beasts & Children" tells a tragicomic tale of a group of disturbed teenaged boys from over-privileged families who are sent by their inattentive parents to camp in hopes that their lazy, urban kids will be toughened up in the cowboy program. Complications arise, but these problem boys band together to take up an important cause.
In this remarkable novel, Glendon Swarthout presents an electrifying portrait of six adolescent "misfits" on a desperate mission to save themselves. And, in a society dedicated to one narrow view of success, they learn something important about what it means to be a man. This is "an exciting mission-pursuit story with an engrossing cast of characters" ("Publishers Weekly").

Only in Pocket Books Enriched Classics will readers find: - A concise introduction that gives readers important background information- A chronology of the author's life and career- A timeline of significant events that provide the book's historical context- An outline of key themes and plot points to help readers form their own interpretations- Detailed explanatory notes- Critical analysis, including contemporary and modern perspectives on the work- Discussion questions to promote lively classroom and book group interaction- A list of recommended related books and films to broaden the reader's experience- Consistently readable text

Bless the Beasts and Children is the story of six 'misfit' boys who leave their childhood behind and set off on a mission with deadly consequences. Along the way, despite society's narrow view of success, they learn something about what it means to be a man. It is the story of transformation. This group of boys - nicknamed The Dings by fellow campers- discover that they are not the flawed and faulty children they've been deemed by others but are in fact powerful beings with the opportunity to make a difference and that they don't need to be cowboys or soldiers to show real bravery. The story's unexpected climax is designed to encourage us to take action to protect the voiceless the powerless and the doomed.

The Homesman opens in the 1850s, when early pioneers are doing anything they can to survive dreadful conditions. Women especially struggle with broken hearts and minds as they face bitter hardships: One nineteen-year-old mother loses her three children to diphtheria in three days; another woman left alone for two nights is forced to shoot wolves to protect herself. The situation calls for a "homesman"-a person charged with taking these women, driven mad by the conditions of rural life, to asylums in the East. Not exactly a job people are lining up for, it falls to Mary Bee Cuddy, an ex-teacher and spinster, who is indomitable, resourceful, and "plain as an old tin pail." Brave as she is, Mary Bee knows she can't make it alone, so she takes along her only available companion: the lowlife and untrustworthy George Briggs. Mary Bee and George know it won't be easy, but their endurance is truly tested as they fight the tide of colonization, Indian attacks, ice storms, loneliness, and the unceasing aggravation of a disparate group of mad women. This is the tale of their journey and a tribute to the men and women who homesteaded the frontier, whether they survived or not.