Boy howdy, this book is full of cowboy lingo (properly defined in a specialized glossary), as it tells the story of a black cowboy from Pendleton, OR, who wowed the crowds even while facing the prejudices of his day.  It’s a picture book biography that culminates with the bucking bronco competition of the 1911 Pendleton Round-Up.  After the first Native American competitor disqualified himself on a tricky ride, and the white competitor road an exciting ride where some spectators saw a disqualification, but the judges said they didn’t, George was the third and final competitor.  His spectacular ride had the crowd of 15,000 spectators roaring their approval.  But when the judges announced the white competitor as first place winner, and George as second place, the crowd went silent before erupting into boos.  Though the judges decision was final, the local lawman snatched George’s hat off his head, cut it up into pieces and started selling off pieces to the crowd at $5 each, and in the end they collected more money for George than the value of the official prize, and George was declared the People’s Champion.  The story is well-told, accompanied by oil paint illustrations, and several pages of further information are offered in the back, to fill out the biographies of the main characters, and to share the difficulties of doing research about a time when not many records were kept on ordinary folks.  A good choice.