Antoni Battista has one rule: stay out of trouble.
It's all that stands between the seventeen-year-old foster kid and freedom. Three more months until graduation. Three more months until he turns eighteen and escapes the system forever.
But trouble has a way of finding Tony. Shot in a Chicago drive-by and shipped to tiny Coralville, he arrives with a bullet-scarred body and a reputation that precedes him. When vandalism and worse rock the small town, suspicious eyes turn his way. The local juvenile officer wants him gone. His pious foster parents think he's a thief. Even his classmates whisper behind his back.
Then Sheriff Jan Lindsey sees something different—a bright, guarded young man desperate for a chance he's never been given.
When Tony stumbles into the middle of a dangerous investigation, his street-smart instincts prove surprisingly useful. But helping the sheriff means stepping into the spotlight, and in a town where everyone knows everyone, being noticed is the last thing he wants.
Sometimes staying out of trouble means walking straight into it.
A compelling young adult novel about prejudice, redemption, and discovering that family isn't always blood.
