A middle grade boy, filled with guilt because his brother has cerebral palsy and will never live a normal life, tries to stay inconspicuous until a new boy moves into his school district and targets him to be his new best friend.

SYNOPSIS:

As far as Stuart is concerned, he doesn’t need any friends; his life is full enough being a good friend to his handicapped brother, Lenny. Then Stuart meets Victor. Stuart did not have a good feeling about this big kid, and was quite apprehensive when Victor chose to sit right next to him. At recess Stuart watches from the parallel bars as Victor plays soccer with some of his classmates. The play soon turns into a fight and Victor and Garrett are taken to the office. Later that day, Victor asks Stuart if he can cheat off his paper. Stuart hesitates, but agrees. By the time school ends, Stuart is ready to be rid of this new kid and runs to his bus. But Stuart isn’t done with him yet; Victor walks onto his bus, sees him, and sits right next to him. Victor talks non stop, mostly about his older brother Miguel. Thus, their friendship begins with Victor literally pushing his way into Stuart’s life.

Stuart is very protective of his low functioning younger brother, Lenny, whom has cerebral palsy. He doesn’t like it when people stare at him. When Victor and his little brother Luis ride their bikes to Stuart’s house to surprise him, they meet Lenny. At first it is awkward, because Victor doesn’t quit know what to say, but soon Stuart can see that the two brothers accept and enjoy Lenny. Baseball is Stuart’s father’s favorite sport, and although Stuart has played since he was 5 years old, Stuart is not a very good player. Victor and Luis are very good at baseball, but they won’t join a baseball team even though the two boys come to his games whenever they can. Stuart doesn’t understand this until he spends the night at Victor’s house; in the morning Victor’s father wakes the boys up and takes them to work in his carpentry yard. Stuart helps also, and finds he enjoys working with Victor’s father. Stuart accidentally hits one of the metal tool boxes with one of the long two by fours he was carrying and makes a dent. Miguel takes the brunt for it. Stuart tells Lenny about what happened. Stuart always tells Lenny what is going on in his life. That Saturday after working for Victor’s father, Stuart is playing a baseball game. He is on a winning team, but to make it to the finals they have to win this game. If they don’t win, they don’t move on and that means the end of the season for his team. They are down by one point, they have two strikes and it’s the last half of the ninth inning. They need two more runs to win, two people are on base, and its Stuart’s turn to bat. Stuart tries to get out of it, but the coach sends him in. Stuart strikes out. On the way home, Stuart can’t stop crying, because he feels the team lost because of him. It’s his brother, Lenny that gives him sympathy that helps him put things in perspective. He makes a decision to not sign up for baseball the following year. Stuart has his father drive him to Victor’s father’s shop, and he confesses that it was him that dented the tool box. The reaction that Victor’s father gives is very positive. Stuart has finally opened up and truly accepted himself, his new friends, and his brother just the way they all are.