"A rollicking novel about a young man's coming of age during difficult times. Sensitive and tormented, sixteen-year-old high school freshman Ben Erickson is getting into so much mischief and mayhem that he is on the fast track to being sent to military school. Instead, Ben escapes, hightailing it to French Polynesia where his grandfather went missing during World War II. Stopped in Nicaragua, Ben discovers a world full of mystery, drugs, love, and death. But more importantly, he comes to realize what is truly important to him as he begins his journey from renegade youth to responsible adult."