He sees Dane as someone strong enough to keep him safe from all those who enjoy 'hitting a retard'. He is highly functional and pretty healthy, all things considered, but he's far from being a regular kid. Dane takes out his anger on anyone who dares to look at him the wrong way, until Billy D. He has no idea who his father is, and his mother, although otherwise great, refuses to divulge his identity. Dane is a bully, raised by a very young single mom and angry at the world. Whether you're a fan of contemporary or not, this story will no doubt touch your heart.ĭead Ends is a simple yet wonderful tale about an unlikely friendship between two young boys, both of them social outcasts. For Dane, he realizes that he takes out his pent-up anger on innocents because he's never met his dad.Ĭompelling writing, fleshed-out characters, and underlying themes about judging others before you really know them. I just thought I'd let any readers know who are sensitive to slut-shaming.īilly makes Dane come to a halt when he asks, 'Why do people hit?' I think this is such an important and heartbreaking question. Thankfully, these comments didn't take up much of the book or else I might have lowered my rating. Dane remarked that a girl he used to date, Marjorie, liked to spread her legs, and when Billy accused him of calling her a slut Dane's response was, 'Yeah, but I didn't say it to her face.'

I did have a problem with some slut-shaming comments. He was his own person - he was capable of taking care of himself and didn't need other people's pity. The author showed how everyone else felt bad for him when Billy was actually freaking smart. When she and Dane started liking each other I actually didn't mind, because the romance was subtle enough that it didn't overpower the plot.īilly's Down Syndrome was handled so well - it wasn't a defining trait in his character. Seely was the tough skateboarding girl with bleached hair who lived in a biker's shop. I laughed at their inside jokes, got caught up in their excitement, and their problems became my problems. They felt real and flawed and I came to care for them so much. The thing is, Dane ends up becoming good friends with Billy and promises to help find his dad, who disappeared and left behind clues in an atlas.

When he is about to get suspended from school he is offered one last chance - look after Billy, who has Down Syndrome. Now I'm going to try my best to convince you to read it.ĭo you like morally conflicted narrators? Dane is the mean kid who beats up anyone who even slightly provokes him. And yet when I picked this up on an impulse, never having heard of the title before, I ended up being so impressed with this marvelous, hidden gem. It came out in 2013 and barely has over 1,000 ratings on Goodreads. It's hard to believe that hardly anyone has read this book. Seely shook her head as if it was obvious and half smiled.

Erin lange books