Novel: Tex

Title and setting

"Tex" is a coming-of-age novel by S. E. Hinton, first published in 1979. The story unfolds in a small Oklahoma town and along the nearby countryside, where wide skies and dusty roads shape the rhythms of daily life. The setting offers a quiet, sometimes harsh backdrop that amplifies the emotional struggles of its young protagonists and the adults around them.

Plot overview

The narrative centers on two teenage brothers, Tex and Mason McCormick, who are left to fend for themselves after their mother's death and their father's withdrawal. Tex, the younger brother, is impulsive, sensitive, and fiercely loyal; Mason, more pragmatic and protective, balances school and jobs to keep a fragile household afloat. When Mason starts dating a college student named Jamie, his attention drifts, and Tex wrestles with jealousy, loneliness, and a growing need to prove himself.
As relationships shift, Tex becomes involved with Jamie's friend, a girl named Allie, and navigates the confusion of first love, betrayal, and the pained acceptance of adult choices. The brothers' survival depends not only on practical decisions about money and work but on confronting grief and learning how to depend on others without sacrificing identity. The plot moves through everyday incidents, fishing trips, fights, school, and heartbreak, that accumulate into a portrait of adolescence at a crossroads.

Main characters

Tex is the emotional center of the book, a teenager whose toughness is mixed with vulnerability. He clings to the idea of family and to the memory of his mother while testing limits and searching for ways to be seen and understood. Mason functions as both caretaker and flawed adult; his efforts to create stability are undermined by his own loneliness and the pull of a life beyond their small town.
Supporting characters such as Jamie and Allie bring social complexity and romantic tension into Tex's world. Jamie represents a connection to something beyond the brothers' constrained routine, while Allie offers Tex tenderness and a mirror for his insecurities. The adults who appear are often worn down by their choices, revealing how patterns of escape and responsibility echo across generations.

Themes and style

Grief and responsibility are woven throughout the novel, portrayed with Hinton's trademark directness and sympathy for adolescent perspective. Family loyalty and the shifting definitions of manhood are explored without heavy-handed moralizing; instead, small actions and conversations expose characters' values and fears. Love, both romantic and fraternal, is shown as a force that can both heal and complicate, especially when young people are left to fill adult roles prematurely.
Hinton's prose remains spare and immediate, capturing the cadence of teenage thought and the particular pressures of rural life. Dialogue carries much of the emotional weight, and scenes are built from sharp, observable details that allow readers to inhabit Tex's experience. The novel balances moments of quiet tenderness with underlying tension, creating a believable passage from adolescence into a tentative adulthood.

Conclusion

"Tex" is a compassionate, grounded study of brothers bound by loss and the uneven process of growing up. The novel's strength lies in its ability to render ordinary days as pivotal and to show how small decisions accumulate into lasting change. Through Tex and Mason, the book examines what it means to be responsible, to love imperfectly, and to find a way forward when family structures have been shaken.