Stuart Ballentyne's mom is in the Air Force. This has meant that his family has been moving around a lot since he was a little kid. His mom is now taking over command of a base in Minot, North Dakota, which seems like the middle of no where. His older brother has gone off to college, and his father has had to go help Stuart's grandmother deal with a series of medical issues. This means it is just Stuart and his mom.

Everyone thought Stuart would end up being friends with Curtis. The two of them were both about 16 years so it would make sense. Curtis is a bit rougher around the edges and tends to enjoy having fun at parties and experimenting with drugs. Surprisingly, Stuart finds himself bonding with Billy, Curtis' much-younger step-brother. Before long, it becomes clear that Curtis' mom is not all that interested in making sure that Billy is getting proper parenting, and Curtis is no help either.

As a result, Stuart finds himself noticing that Billy is facing border-line abandonment and abuse issues, and he is not sure what to do about it. He can't talk to his dad, and when his mother and most of the base is sent out on a deployment, he can't talk to her as well.

She has left Stuart in the charge of her assistant, Cardinal. The two guys get along well, but it is not the kind of relationship that leads to deep discussion. His only release is by talking with his e-pal, Taylor, who is also going to be coming to live on the base soon.

I thought this was a pretty good tale. I think it really does a great job of highlighting what it is like living on a military base and being an "army brat." At the core, Stuart is a good kid, though the fact that he is dealing with his parent's separation and watching his license being pushed off because neither of his parents can make the arrangements for him to get it on his 16th birthday. Like most kids his age, he makes some rash decisions, and they lead to some trouble.

I thought Stuart and most of the primary characters were pretty solidly constructed. Their actions and voices feel real. The story flows logically through the various plot points, though, I was really disturbed about the accident. (I won't go into more since I don't want to include a spoiler). My only problem is that the one final "surprise" was pretty predictable, but I think most teen guys would be just as surprised as Stuart was in the end.