Equality

Most businesses and public places make an effort to accommodate all kinds of people with all kinds of issues. In the small town of Bourne, these accommodation are a way of life because most of the population has some degree of disability. The residents work hard to accept everyone equally.

Bourne is a fictional town that seems to be located in the United States, though the author makes a note at the opening of the novel that it could be any town, anywhere. The town has always been small, but it is smaller now because many of the residents died as the result of a chemical released into the local water supply by the Belsum Chemical plant. That chemical killed many of the residents, and many others have had various kinds of cancer and other health issues. Most of the children have issues that range from...