The book could be made much stronger by doing more showing and less telling. After a few chapters the story becomes, "I slept with this girl and we broke up because of my inadequacies." One thing I would like to see is more dialogue (and I realize that this might be hard for the author to come up with). As a reader, I feel it would put me in a better position to evaluate the characters and their motivations.

In the early chapters I wanted much more - especially the ones about the death of his father and his inability to get along with his stepfather. Some analysis of these situations with greater detail would make the chapters that follow easier to understand.

Having said this, I must say the book has much going for it that warrants its reading. The story has something to say about children with an attention deficit problem. Did Michael get help or did he just grow out of the condition, because he seems to have adjusted into a very fine person.

The biggest plus is the help this book could provide for those parents on the verge of losing their kids. Such parents need to read this book for insights on how to head off such a tragic event. If such an event does occur, the book offers phone numbers and web sites that can help both runaways and their parents.

This is a very good book that could easily grow into a great book.