After hearing about this book at a conference, I knew I wanted to read it and share it with my students. 
 The characters in this story were great. I was on Sam and Riddle's team/side since the beginning of the book because I felt so bad for them. I know there are kids that are out there in the world that are living with a family member that is struggling with a mental disorder and it just breaks my heart. I'm glad that Sam and Riddle met Emily and her family because I really felt like they saved them in the end. And Bobby, what comes around, goes around. The kid was a idiot but hey, I think he was realistically portrayed in the story. 
 I liked the story a lot but it took me a long time to get through. Parts of the story were kind of slow and I just wanted things to hurry up a little bit to get to know what happened. The story line kind of reminded me a little of the movies Pay it forward and the Blind Side.