A dead brother. A distant father. An isolating stutter. Atlas Forman has a life none envy and many scorn. He lives in the dreary coal-mining town of Pinesburg, Kentucky, a smoker's paradise and a dreamer's purgatory. Though he's only twelve years old, he longs for the day he can leave this dismal community for good. When Atlas's older brother Charlie, local high school football hero, is killed by a drunk driver, it seems as though misery will become the family's permanent state. The only comfort Atlas finds is in an unfinished note written by his brother that encourages him to be true to...