is the story of 12 year-old Foster living in the south with his widowed mother. He is still grieving the death of his father from an accident a year ago. To make life more difficult, Foster’s mother has been dating a nasty, younger man named Dax. The boyfriend is surly, almost kills Foster’s dog, and drinks too much. What she sees in him, the reader never knows. A drifter named Gary shows up at their farm one day and they allow him to stay in the barn in exchange for him fixing things so they can get ready to sell the house and move closer to the grandparents. Gary is running from something (we find out later), but is handy, kind and steps in as a positive father role-model for Foster. Foster begins to idolize him and start to feel life is maybe worth living again. The plot turns violent when the now ex-boyfriend, Dax, starts harassing the mother. A culminating scene of violence decides the ending. The transformation of Foster from a lost kid to a boy becoming a man is the real development of the story.
