As many young people approach the age of Cletus Frade, they must, like Cletus, confront serious issues such as loyalty to family, friends, school, and jobs. If we look at Cletus by himself, we see a conflicted young man—deprived of his family and his newly found father, burdened with a pregnant fiancee, threatened by people trying to kill him, and betrayed by his newest friend who is his nation's enemy. How Cletus handles all these pressures and remains true to himself—if indeed he does—opens many attitudes about personal and social responsibility.

The issue of friendship is brought out with Cletus's relationship to Peter-Hans, with whom he should by rights not be friends; groups could also discuss the way that the friendship is formed, on what it is based, and what the nature of this friendship is. Likewise, readers could examine...