On the first day of school, Willie is looking forward to football, and he is in love with his friend Jenny. In literature class, the first book they will study is Bless the Beasts and the Children. Their teacher explains that the book is about "a group of misfits who seem discarded and uncared for and who have to pull together to fend for themselves and find meaning in their lives."
After a long football practice and late dinner the same day, Willie and Jenny ride their bikes to his fishing hole. He wants to ask her to be his girlfriend, but he cannot seem to get around to the subject. They talk about what a good fisherman his mom used to be, before his baby sister died.
Jenny remembers how Willie withdrew into himself.....
