When eleven-year-old Sam Webber's father disappears without a trace, he and his mother are forced to relocate to a tough neighborhood, closer to her job. Unfamiliar with his surroundings and intimidated by the students of his new school, Sam recounts the sometimes frightening, sometimes delightful details of his life with touching, humorous sincerity. Living in a tiny apartment with a bedroom that feels like a closet and a closet that has been turned into a den, he is forced to deal with the legacy of depression that marked his father, and threatens to envelop him. The city remains a cold and unwelcoming place to Sam until he meets Greely, an elderly black janitor at his junior high. Through this unlikely friendship Sam begins to heal, as well as confront the racism that surrounds his community, and his life. With afternoons of football in the park and greasy meals at the local Little Tavern, Sam discovers that friendship and warmth can rise in even the saddest times.
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