Summary

Chapters 1 through 5 - When Ari returns to school he is peppered by questions from students (particularly his childhood friend Gina) and teachers (particularly new teacher Mr. Blocker) alike. He finds both sorts of questions irritating, particularly those from Mr. Blocker who, Ari comments, asks those kind of first day getting-to-know you questions that he hates. When he asks his mom, who is also a teacher, whether she does that sort of thing, she says she does, telling him she wants to get to know her students as people. On the second day of school, Ari is surprised when an unknown girl named Ileana comes up and signs one of the casts on his legs. He is surprised by the strength of his feelings for her (see “Quote 9”).

Chapters 6 through 12 – On his sixteenth birthday, Ari is given a truck...