Junior is a member of the Spokane Indian tribe and is living on the reservation with his family. He was born with major medical problems and because of the outcomes, he is picked on by other kids on the reservation. The one things he can always count on are his drawings and Rowdy. Junior and Rowdy have been best friends for years and Junior feels closer to him than anyone else in the world. Despite all his medical problems, Junior knows he is smart and longs for a more fulfilling education than the one he is receiving on the reservation. After a long talk with one of his teachers, he decides to transfer to a predominately white school twenty miles from the reservation. While his family is proud of his decision, most of the others on the reservation feel differently. Junior is picked on even more for "abandoning" his tribe but now he doesn't have Rowdy to protect him since Rowdy also turned his back on him for deciding to change schools. The first few weeks at his new school are tough on Junior but slowly he begins to make friends, make the basketball team and for once, truly feel a part of his school. During the book, Junior not only deals with the everyday trials that teenagers face but also the additional ones of belonging to a poor Indian family. He wonders how he'll pay for the winter formal dance without people finding out he doesn't have the money while dealing with the untimely and senseless deaths that happen on the reservation. Although the reader feels sympathy for Junior and everything he has to deal with, we are also proud of him and feel hopeful. He stands strong in the face of adversity and learns to believe in himself.
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