The saga of 12 years in the life of a rural boy, born in a bawdy house, living in extreme poverty with his mother in the poorest part of a southern Arkansas town. Drew observes his mother entertaining numerous 'uncles'. When one of those uncles becomes abusive toward Drew, and then later attempts male rape, Drew feels he has no other choice than to run away.

The ten-year old boy climbs into a rail boxcar, and the train takes him away not only from the abuse but also from his home and friends, carrying him to an unknown future. Just as things seem their worst, Drew vows that he will never cry again, but instead face life on his own terms.

Praised by one critic as Huckleberry Finn meets Forest Gump, Drew's adventures on the way to becoming a responsible and compassionate man, set against the backdrop of America's Great Depression and the following turbulent years of World War II, are a story that is relevant to the upheavals and turbulence in society today.

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