Steven is new at school. If that isn’t bad enough for any fifteen-year-old, he just found out that his mother is pregnant. And his mother’s boyfriend is no longer in the picture leaving him as the man of the house. Steven’s troubles are only just beginning when he has a run-in with the local skinhead who takes an instant dislike to him and makes it his mission to make Steven’s life miserable.

His love of the Toronto Maple Leafs gives him something to talk about with a few kids in his class and he feels like he’s starting to make friends. He even decides to try out for the school’s hockey team and makes another new friend. 

As things grow more strained at home with the baby coming, his school life is faltering as well. He has a serious crush on Jenny who he doesn’t think he stands a chance with even though his new friend insists she likes him back. His lack of confidence keeps him from believing she could like him.

His life is completely chaotic and seems out of his control and he’s not sure what to do about any of it. He meets an older boy named Byron who thinks he can put the entire universe into perspective through Miss Pac-Man. He gets Steven thinking about god “with a little g” and how everything connects in life.

The story is told in the form of a letter to Steven’s yet unborn sister Sam. It starts out as a suicide letter but changes tone throughout the book. Sam is almost like Steven’s therapist. He works out what is going on in his life through this letter. He talks about “doing himself in” but nothing happening to him ever seems that dire. He’s just going through changes that happen to many young adults but his seem to happen all at once. He’s trying to figure out where he fits in this new school, how to act around girls and dealing with the responsibility that is going to come with his new baby sister.

His changing relationship with his mother seems to be taking a bigger toll on him than he wants to admit. His temper is starting to show more at home and he’s acting out more. His mother seems to be getting the brunt of all the frustration he’s feeling in the rest of his life. At one point it’s as if he thinks he can just ignore that the baby is coming.

This book is appropriate for grades 9 and up. There are sexual references. 

© 2010 Amy Ridley

Amy Ridley received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from Boston University.