This is about a young male teen who struggles with living in foster care, abuse and sexuality. The story begins when Nicholas is living in a foster home with 14 other children and he is sharing a room with two other boys. Nicholas is 14 years old. He remembers being told that his father is a drunk and left Nicholas and his mother when Nicholas was born. His mother grew ill and died but Nicholas remembers the way her hair smelled. He remembers it smelling like lavender. Nicholas enjoys writing and has a notebook where he writes poems and his feelings down and the same day another boy comes into the home and shares a bunk bed with Nicholas and his name is Johnny. Johnny is a year younger then Nicholas but has a stronger body because he plays alot of sports. When Nicholas is getting harass by the two oldest boys in the house Johnny defends him and they become friends. They start spending more and more time together. They go to the same school and Nicholas grows attach to Johnny. Nicholas joined the baseball team with Johnny so they could spend more time together. But Johnny begins a relationship with a girl and Nicholas grows jealous because Johnny does not have alot of time to spend with Nicholas that much anymore and Johnny and his girlfriend kiss and hug each other in front of Nicholas so Nicholas begins avoiding Johnny for a while. Johnny notices something is wrong thought and questions Nicholas about why has he been acting strange and Nicholas explains himself and they go back to being friends and Johnny tries to spend more time with Nicholas. When Johnny is sick and cannot attend school after baseball practice Nicholas get bullied by the other boys and a fight starts and when Nicholas gets home a social worker is going to take him to another home where he can get more attention. Nicholas did not even have a chance to defend himself but says good-bye to Johnny and Nicholas gives Johnny his notebook and Johnny gives Nicholas his Jersey. At the new foster home it is only a woman and her husband and a baby girl named Chelsea who lives there. Nicholas has a room to himself but doesn't trust the people there yet because Nicholas believes all foster parents want is the money they receive from the government. The woman named Mrs. O' Malley tries to be nice and comforting of Nicholas and soon Nicholas begins to warm up to her and notices her husband is barely around. For a while things were going well for Nicholas because he found a girlfriend named Tiffany he was enjoying his new school and he has friends but when he finally meets Mr. O' Malley he gets abuse by him but not often because he is barely home so Nicholas keeps quiet about it for a little while until one day Nicholas got beat up so badly he passes out and is found by Mrs. O' Malley and Nicholas tells her the truth and she calls the police and the police and a bunch of case workers show up and he is remove from that foster home and goes to another where it is crowded but the foster parents are much nicer to Nicholas and Nicholas meets a boy named Danny at his new school. And as there friendship grows Danny tells Nicholas the truth that he is gay and he has a boyfriend named David. Danny tells Nicholas do not tell anyone because Danny is not ready to come out yet. Nicholas is still friends with Danny and meets his boyfriend. When Nicholas has his birthday party after the party is over David tells Nicholas that Danny has been acting stranger and distant towards him so Nicholas talks to Danny about it and Danny explains that he was nervous David would be affectionate towards him in front of his parents and that he has fallen in love with Nicholas and Danny kisses him. Nicholas likes the kiss but is confuse about his feelings and tells Danny to leave and Danny is hurt. The next day Nicholas feels terrible about this and goes to Danny's house to apologize but finds out Danny committed suicide and Nicholas thinks it was his fault and gets depress because he feels guilty.
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Best part of story, including ending:
I like this story because it describes how he is being raise in foster care and how he copes with it.
Best scene in story:
My favorite scene the book is when Nicholas and his friend named Danny are you in a tent together and Danny is explaining why he was so distant with his boyfriend and then shocks Nicholas by kissing him on the lips. I like this scene because it was a surprise to me because I was not expecting it and it just seem so passionate.
Opinion about the main character:
I like the main character because he is very strong for his age. He does not do drugs or engage in any criminal activity despite what he is going through at a young age.
