These are the stories of three boys living in Texas: one growing up, one dreaming, and one fighting to stay alive in the face of destitution and adversity. There's second-grader William, a shy yet imaginative boy who schemes about how to get back at his school-yard bully, Randy. Then there's Sam, a 15-year-old boy who dreams of getting a 1980 Mazda RX-7 for his sixteenth birthday but has to work at a Greek restaurant to fund his dream. Finally, there's Seff, a 21-year-old on the brink of manhood, trying to survive along with his roommate, working as waiters and barely making ends meet. These three stories are told with heart, humor, and an uncompromising look at what it meant to grow up in Texas during the 1980s and 1990s. The three stories in Boys by Scott Semegran are as follows: The Great and Powerful, Brave Raideen: Second-grader William enjoyed the sanctity of his room where he would sit by himself, surrounded by his toys. In his room, he was safe from Randy, the bully who tortured him at school. William schemed about what he would do to get back at Randy with his favorite toy, a Shogun Warrior called Brave Raideen. When pressed about what he should do to get back at Randy, Brave Raideen told him, "You should get the thing in your mommy's nightstand. That'll scare him real good " With that sage advice, William was convinced that Brave Raideen had the answer to his problem; he would show Randy who was the bigger kid when he saw him on the school playground. The next day, William's plan did not work out well for him but he later discovered a different way to make peace with Randy. Good Night, Jerk Face: Sam is a 15-year-old boy living in San Antonio, Texas who dreams of getting a 1980 Mazda RX-7 for his sixteenth birthday. When he learns that his parents refuse to give him one, he finds a job at a nearby Greek restaurant to earn money to buy his RX-7. He forms a bond with the owner of the restaurant and discovers what is really important when getting his dream car. The Discarded Feast: Seff and Alfonso, two servers working at a corporate Italian restaurant, are a few missteps from destitution. When they learn that the restaurant management throws away an egregious amount of food every night, they steal the trays of discarded food and take them home, perfectly good meals otherwise destined for the local landfill. The young men later befriend some old folks on a delivery run (who they learn had young lives infinitely more interesting than their own) and they decide to give their newfound, elderly friends the food they have been collecting, with devastating consequences. Scott Semegran lives in Austin, Texas with his wife, four kids, two cats, and a dog. He graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a degree in English. He is a cartoonist and a writer. He can also bend metal with his mind and run really fast, if chased by a pack of wolves. His comic strips have appeared in the following newspapers: The Austin Student, The Funny Times, The Austin American-Statesman, Rocky Mountain Bullhorn, Seven Days, The University of Texas at Dallas Mercury, and The North Austin Bee. His short story "That Little Devil (Que Un Diablito)" appeared in the The Next One Literary Journal from the Texas Tech University Honors College. He is a Kindle bestselling author. Other novels and books by Scott Semegran include The Meteoric Rise of Simon Burchwood, Modicum, The Spectacular Simon Burchwood, and Mr. Grieves the Book.