Gifted artist? Standout student? All his teachers are sure
certain that Evan Galloway can be the graduate who brings
glory to small, ordinary St. Sebastian's School. As for
Evan, however, he can't be bothered anymore. Since the shock
of his young father's suicide last spring, Evan no longer
cares about the future. In fact, he believes that he spent
the first fifteen years of his life living a lie. Despite
his mother's encouragement and the steadfast companionship
of his best friend, Alexis.
Evan is mired in rage and bitterness. Good memories seem
ludicrous when the present holds no hope. Then Evan's
grandmother hands him the key--literally, a key--to a locked
trunk that his father hid when he was the same age as Evan
is now. Digging into the trunk and the small-town secrets it
uncovers, Evan can begin to face who his father really was,
and why even the love of his son could not save him. In a
voice that resonates with the authenticity of grief, Steven
Parlato tells a different kind of coming-of-age story, about
a boy thrust into adulthood too soon, through the corridor
of shame, disbelief, and finally...compassion.