Excellent book about a boy called Nate who lives with his violent father Dec and step-mother Nance and twin Half brothers Jake and Otis. Dec is growing a crop of marijuana in Nate's bedroom and is up to other dodgy stuff. He also treats Nance and the twins very badly ( especially Otis who has a disability) and seems to have no time for Nate at all. Nate loves his half-brothers and his only joy in life is writing blank verse and visiting the local youth drop in centre. He has a very good English teacher who encourages him to write and be the best he can be in life. Then things start going pear-shaped when someone takes a few pages of his musings and graffities them on the Youth Centre wall when it is rumored to be closing due to government cuts in funding. And then to top it all off, his mother, who has been absent for a number of years, wants to contact him.
Can Nate "change the ending" of his own story and escape a life of brutality and lies?
This book is excellent for the "Growing good men" theme as Nate has to make certain choices in his life and sometimes he chooses wrongly, but mostly he chooses wisely. I loved the ending after a dramatic "what the" part that almost left me sobbing. ( )