Willie is the best at baseball until a water skiing accident that leaves him crippled. To heal himself -- and his family -- he runs away with grandiose plans, only to find himself stuck in Oakland, CA, beaten up by a Chinese gang.

He falls into going to an alternative high school and really finds himself, through the help of some very different adults.

When he goes home ( 1 1/2 years later), he finds that there is no place for him there right at that time.

It is a story of a star athlete becoming broken and then whole again.

Good read!

A teenage boy who has everything -- great athlete, good looks, wonderful girlfriend, etc., -- struggles to deal with the radical change in his life when he is partially crippled in a freak accident.

interesting book about a boy in a white suburban and/or rural town who is in an accident that transforms him from sports-type-popular guy to outcast perceived as a loser. He leaves his all American town and moves to the slums in CA--near SF and finds himself through his ability to survive and be happy where he is, in a diverse area.

I love the concept that diversity breeds the betterment of the character, and of all kids. However, I don't know how realistic the sitch is. Would a school whose hero becomes physically challenged (non pc term is crippled, and is ostracized by the whole school. I don't think that would happen. It didn't in our town under similar circumstances.

Still the book brings up excellent issues and is a page turner. ( )