Hudson Wheeler feels the weight of his mom's and teacher's expectation to "go somewhere" in life, and spends the majority of his senior year trying to gain traction. Unfortunately, this book wallowed almost as much as Hudson, with the first 2/3 spent delivering an aimless storyline with no indication of what the overarching plot was supposed to be (other than bewilderment, which it nailed, but in the wrong way). The last third pulled it up to three stars for me, as we finally see some of the story threads pull together, including his attempts at romance, new friendships, and half-business/half-mentorship interactions with an elderly veteran in the neighborhood. It's the final point that was particularly compelling for me, and if the whole book had been written with the poignant heart and emotion of Hudson's last chapters involving Mr. Pirkle I would have enjoyed it much more.