In the tradition of Frank McCourt and -Angela's Ashes, - Donald Dempsey chronicles one boy's ordeals with poverty, religion, and physical and mental abuse as he attempts to come of age with only his street smarts and sense of humor to guide him. Twelve-year-old Donny is a real-life cross between Huckleberry Finn and Holden Caulfield. Donny is doing his best to navigate the world he shares with his cruel and neglectful mother, his mother's abusive boyfriends, churchgoers who want to save Donny's soul, and a best friend who wants Donny to go to work for a dangerous local thug doing petty theft...