Young Adult Books

When thirteen-year-old Dakota’s athletic father abandons the family, Dakota is convinced he left because Dakota is so wimpy. Dakota determines to become a baseball star so his father will want to return home. Once Dakota discovers the truth -- that his father left for another woman -- things fall apart. Dakota’s grades fall, he cheats on tests, he even sneaks out of the house in the middle of the night, injuring himself when he sets fire to the baseball field. The climax comes when Dakota shoplifts and fears he will end up in juvenile detention.