Publisher's Synopsis
We walk into Joshua's life when he is in fifth grade, his sister in third grade. He doesn't know if his parents are mean because they are always drunk or drunk because they are always mean. We follow his struggle in this abusive family; his mystical love for the land and his deep love and protection for his younger sister. By the time he reaches junior high school he has given in to life and now consumes as much alcohol as his parents. He never wanted this but he becomes an abusive personality that tries the patience of his two closest friends and drives away the one good thing he loved other than his sister, a wonderful girl he fell in love with at a school dance. As we watch Joshua slide into the abyss where his parents live, facing the danger that like them he will never get out, we learn the three things that will help him crawl out; his love for his sister, the mystery of farming that tells him there is goodness in life, and two lifelong friends that just will not give up on him.
