When fourteen-year-old Anthony "Ant" Jones from the ghetto of East Cleveland, Ohio, gets a scholarship to a prep school in Maine, he finds that he must change his image and adapt to a world that never fully accepts him, but when he goes home he discovers that he no longer truly belongs there either.
It was a year in his life where he learned a lot about the world. Ant didn't know much about life outside of East Cleveland, but after one of his friends is murdered right in front of him, he seizes the opportunity to attend prep school in Maine. His got quite an education during his year at Belton Academy. Thrust into a very white world, Ant struggled with fitting in while not losing himself. He gravitated to the very few Black students who also attended the academy and were all coping in their own way. I really liked the way Walker contrasted their experiences with Ant's. Each came with a different point of view and each helped Ant form his own understanding. I really felt for Ant too. His frustration with living between two worlds but never really belonging to one rang true, and though the ending made me a bit sad, I appreciated how much Anthony had grown from his trials.
