"Once again Armpit was holding a shovel, only now he was getting paid for it, seven dollars and sixty five cents an hour...his shovel was short and had a rectangular blade, unlike the five-foot shovels with pointed blades he used when he was at Camp Green Lake Juvenile Correctional Facility" (Chapter 1, p. 1).

"[The counsellor] said his life would be like walking upstream in a rushing river. The secret was to take small steps and just keep moving forward. If he tried to take too big a step, the current would knock him off his feet and carry him back downstream" (Ibid, p. 4).

"1. Graduate from high school. 2. Get a job. 3. Save his money. 4. Avoid situations that might turn violent. And 5. Lose the name Armpit" (Ibid, p. 4).

"But as much as Armpit helped [Ginny], she helped him even more, She gave his life meaning. For the first time in...