Now, more than ever, global events and changing socioeconomic structures
cause us to pause and reflect upon the underlying factors that define many
working class youth approaching adulthood. Something happened that
transformed the lives of the characters in this book who defied the odds and
chose a new direction toward a brighter future with the promise of higher
education. But the reader also comes to better understand how these same
characters and thousands like them across the globe will experience nothing
more than despair and self destruction. As the book unfolds we prepare to
become fully engaged in the lives of several emerging adult males who found
themselves living on the edge. The author gained special insights through
several years of working directly with troubled youth approaching adulthood.
His perspectives were also shaped by beginning his own journey through life
in a working class family located in the Midwestern region of the United
States.