An imaginative, autistic boy enjoys a Wild West romp in this debut children’s book.

The most special thing about 10-year-old Billy Gus isn’t that he’s autistic and nonverbal. Rather, he’s blessed with radiant happiness and a fertile imagination that takes him on wonderful adventures with Morris, his beloved stuffed monkey. One day, the friends fly into the sky to follow a white dove, touching down in an Old West desert landscape. It seems that the Stick-’em-up Gang, notorious cactus outlaws, has taken over Tombstone, but luckily, there’s a new sheriff in town. That would be Sheriff Billy Gus, complete with spurred boots, cowboy hat, duster, and silver star, accompanied by his deputy, Morris “The Mischief Maker” Monkey, also in Western dress (plus rainbow suspenders). The outlaws are tough customers, but the sheriff arrests Cactus the Kid as he’s robbing a bank. Billy leans on the Kid and learns that the Stick-’em-up Gang’s next target is a stagecoach. The hero hatches an elaborate scheme to nab the culprits with help from Morris and his banana cannon, along with the townsfolk, who—sick of being terrorized—are happy to pitch in for the showdown. In her tale, Mitchell offers wonderfully comic Old West slapstick. When one outlaw is pummeled by the local baker’s dough balls, another asks: “Did the Pillsbury Dough Boy sneeze on you or what?” More seriously, the escapade allows Billy to work out some feelings. When Curly Cactus uses “the dreaded R word,” Billy’s tears well up, but Morris provides loving reassurance. Unfortunately, the real-world framing story focusing on Billy is sappy and much less engaging: “You could almost swear that there were actual beams of light radiating from his angelic face.”

An Old West tale that delivers appealingly anarchic comedy and affirmation for neurodivergent kids.