Although a school friend, a truck driver, a waitress, a clinic doctor, and a sheriff try to help fifteen-year-old Dave as he struggles to leave behind a troubled past, no one can keep him from running toward his inevitable, shattering destiny
I give this book a 5 star rating because I have enormous respect for the foremothers of Young Adult literature. Every. Single. Issue. that so many teens can face and MORE is in this book...drugs, sex, prositution, abuse, absentee parents, cruel step parent, adults who understand and adults who don't, running away, friendship, homelessness...on and on. Brilliant is the way the story is told....each chapter is a new pov from someone who has encounter Dave, the runaway teen. Though the ending is tragic and certainly doesn't leave the reader with a sense of hope, that's okay. YA at this time period was, for the most part, tales of caution versus character driven. BRavo Jeannette Everly, bravo!
It tells of people that he encounters and shows people as they really are.
Eventually Dave is arrested by mistake. The woman he'd worked for had heard a radio report that an escaped convict matching his description was near where she lived.
When it was cleared up and Dave's stepfather notified, he's still in prison. His stepfather decides to press charges sending Dave of over the edge.
Dave kills himself; hung himself with the string on his windbreaker.
The good guy does not win while the bad one goes scot-free.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.