Moving was a constant, and often necessary, way of life for John. By the age of thirteen, his family had moved ten times. And now, as a freshman in high school, they would move again. To a place called Hopedale, a predominantly white, Anglo-Saxon Protestant town, a place where he was looked at as nothing more than an Irish punk.


He promised his mother he'd try, really try, to make things right with the kids at school. And the teachers. But some promises are harder to keep than others.


When his family loses faith in his ability to turn over a new leaf, John realizes things had to change. The year was 1965 and religion had turned its back on him, his friends suddenly declared themselves mortal enemies of all law enforcement, and Hopedale High School had shown itself to be nothing more than a place that existed in order to determine who would succeed in life, who would succeed in business, and who would work in the inferno known as Draper's foundry. After graduation, John has one thing left in front of him that might help him find out who he was, where he came from, and where he would be going.