October 9, 2006
In this potentially riveting yet uneven debut, 15-year-old Ian McDermott is the quintessential bad boy with a heart of gold ("A troubled youth with an anger management problem," as his father puts it). As the story begins in Spokane, Wash., Ian and his 10-year-old brother, Sammy, are in dire straits. Their mother is a crack addict who can't kick her habit; their father, the chief administrator of the Washington State Penitentiary, has been absent since Sammy was born; and the principal of Morrison High thinks Ian's "not right for this school." So when Ian decks the track coach and breaks his jaw-an offense that would send Ian to jail and Sammy to foster care-Ian must do what's necessary to keep him and his brother together. The novel's frustratingly convoluted beginning then takes a more exciting turn. The two boys begin a road adventure to look for their father in hopes that he can make things right. Their eventual reunion turns out differently than expected, and sets off a chain reaction that changes the boys' lives permanently. Although the story is packed with potential, it often reads like an after-school special, with rather hackneyed dialogue ("And we were fine before you decided to stick your nose in things, so if you want to feel sorry for something, feel sorry for yourself") and readers might find the neatly tied-up ending unrealistic. Ages 14-up.