Bank robbers … classroom bullies … highwaymen … a rampaging bull. The challenges young Henry Appleton faces, as he struggles to stand up for what he believes in, make this a classic ‘cowboy’ yarn. And it takes place not in the American West but in the rough-and-tumble world of Aotearoa New Zealand in the 1860s.

Although Henry dreams of having his own rifle and becoming a gunslinger like Wild Bill Hickok, he is in most ways just an ordinary kid who’s not looking for trouble. Trouble finds him.

When he helps to capture bank robber Dead Eye Dick, the town is quick to call him a ‘boy hero’. But his biggest challenge is yet to come – when he finds himself face-to-face with the murderous Richard Burgess gang. Will Henry have the courage to ‘do the right thing’?

Henry Appleton, Boy Hero is written by John Evan Harris in the voice of the self-acclaimed American dime novelist Johnny Slick – who himself was saved by Henry’s quick thinking and bravery.

The book is a prequel to Henry’s encounters with the Burgess gang, told in The Physician’s Gun.