"Henry Tollet arrives home one day badly bloodied after being attacked without provocation near his school bus stop. He did not even know the boy who did it, a scraggly youth who vanished as mysteriously as he had appeared. Henry winces as his grandfather tends to the wound, but it is his father's reaction that troubles him.".

"Cox Tollet received custody of his son after Henry's mother divorced him, and he now tries to hold onto his father's farm - without any help from the old man, who still holds the title but spends most of his time drinking. Henry, now twelve, has been an increasing source of concern and dismay for Cox. Called to task for not defending himself against his assailant, Henry is expected to seek out the stranger and take revenge.".

"Cox's dissatisfactions with both his father and his son - and theirs with him - move the story to a gripping resolution, one in which Henry learns not only to fend for himself but to fend for his future."--BOOK JACKET.