By ELLEN HOPKINS

While Trace used to have a close relationship with his older brother, Will, everything changes after Will suffers a serious brain injury in a football game. “The incident” has a permanent effect on Will’s personality. He now skips school, hangs out with the wrong crowd, steals money, and eventually becomes addicted to pain medication. Trace, already juggling his parent’s separation and pitching for his school baseball team, hides what he knows about Will from their father. When Will attempts suicide, Trace learns the hard way that the best way he can help his brother is to be open with his parents about the direction Will’s life is taking him. The author, Ellen Hopkins writes this story of family love in prose, the perfect format for the storyline.