{"product_id":"wide-open-9780425247488","title":"Wide Open","description":"\u003cb\u003eBased on actual events, this is the epic story of Abilene, Kansas, at a time when the cowboy was king, might made right, and the future seemed as unsettled as the endless prairie. \u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAbilene, 1871. Will Merritt is fiercely protective of the cattle trade that made his father's fortune. Idolizing the cowboys who flood the streets each summer, Will and his friends are drawn to Abilene's exotic Texastown district--a powderkeg of saloons and brothels so notorious that the mayor has hired the West's most famous gunman, Wild Bill Hickok, to police its streets. Yet even with Hickok as marshal, Abilene boils with deep divisions. \u003cbr\u003eThe townsfolk resent the migrant settlers whose new farms are slicing up the rangeland. And no one is more intolerant than Will's best friend, Jasper, who delights in tormenting any farmer he encounters. But Will finds himself torn when he meets the beautiful and beguiling Anna, whose dignity and determination test his deepest beliefs. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThen Will's father reveals a stunning secret that challenges Abilene's future, one that makes the Merritts outcasts. And when Wild Bill's tenure as marshal comes to a violent head, Will realizes that everything--his family, his friends, and the only home he's ever known--could be gone in an instant, leaving only an empty wilderness once again.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Berkley \/ Nal\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 06\/05\/2012\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780425247488\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 384\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.65lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 7.90h x 5.10w x 1.20d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAward:\u003c\/b\u003e Spur Awards - Finalist\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAward:\u003c\/b\u003e Spur Awards - Winner\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAccelerated Reader Quiz #\/Name: \u003c\/b\u003e161016 \/ Wide Open\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReading Level:\u003c\/b\u003e 5.1 \/ \u003cb\u003eInterest Level:\u003c\/b\u003e Upper Grade \/ \u003cb\u003ePoint Value:\u003c\/b\u003e 15\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Larry Bjornson","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43799720493237,"sku":"9780425247488","price":19.55,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/files\/img_645c6b59-ecdc-4121-b273-6013f8df447a.jpg?v=1711477364","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/wide-open-9780425247488","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}