A moving coming-of-age novel where one mischievous young teen finds humor and healing in unexpected places.
“Mom didn’t think it was funny when I took off my leg at school, put it in my locker, and then tied a rag around my stump with fake blood on it. After that, though, the kids at school pretty much knew if anyone was going to be cracking jokes about my leg, it was gonna be me.”
Alastair Hudson, a.k.a “Stump,” is a thirteen-year-old with an attitude, walking through life with a chip on his shoulder and a prosthetic leg.
The absolute last way Alastair wants to spend his summer is in California visiting his dad, who split town after the accident that caused Alastair’s amputation back when he was eight. What’s worse, his dad’s remarried to a woman called Skylight, er, Skyla.
But life in California gets a little brighter when Alastair meets fifteen-year-old soap opera star Jesse. He’s ready to do anything to impress her—even pretend he’s a top-notch swimmer to compete alongside her in a major race. Now all he has to do is learn to swim in the ocean, win a battle of wills with his cantankerous coach, and confront his father over the events that led to his life-altering accident.
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