Herbie's best friend, Ray, and John Greenweed have the same birthday, October 8th. They both want to have their parties on the same day and Herbie wants to go to both. No matter what Herbie tried to do, neither Ray nor John wanted to change the date of their party. It looks like there will be no solution until a small tragedy happens.

There is an undercurrent of cowboys through the story. Herbie is reading a book about the Old West and he and Ray are doing a report about the West for school. The party dilemma is supposed to represent a showdown. Actually, the problem is solved by compromise after the tragedy occurs.

Rating:

This book is what my parents call "easy reading." The story did teach how sometimes the unimportant things in life just aren't worth worrying about. It is a good chapter book for those kids who feel comfortable reading longer books. You can purchase it through Amazon.