This book was rather strange. A young man disappears and turns the town upside down. The only clue anyone has to what happened to Christopher Creed is a cryptic letter he wrote to the principal. In his letter he describes how he does not get along with others and he lists some people he wishes he was more like. Creed says he has no other choice but to disappear.
One of the boys mentioned in the letter, Torey Adams, starts viewing things differently after the letter. Torey was a very popular boy who seemed to have it all; he played sports, had friends and a lovely girlfriend. Torey becomes annoyed when everyone else in the school seems to make a joke out of the disappearance of Creed. Torey even beats himself up for hitting Creed when they were in the 6th grade. Torey becomes interested in the whys, hows and wheres of this mysterious vanishing.
Creed's mother is a pretty scary lady. She was a former naval officer. She is determined that a boon (short for the underprivileged kids who live in the boondocks) named Bo killed her son. Bo pushed Creed off the bleachers the year before and broke his leg. Bo and his girlfriend Ali find a copy of the letter sent from Creed to the principal and save it to a disk. When the letter is found in Bo's locker it makes him look even more guilty.
Torey is determined to find out what happened to Creed. He and Ali used to be friend but have since drifted apart. She gained a bad reputation after her parents split up. It was also social suicide to date a boon. Ali lived next door to Creed and was determined that Creed's mother killed her son. Each night she went into Creed's room looking for something. Ali reveals to Torey that Creed kept a diary. They come up with a plan to get the diary out of the house. Once Torey decides to participate his life will never be the same. Torey goes to a local park and call the Creed house. He tells the mother he has information about Christopher and to bring lots of money. When the Creeds leave the house Bo tries to break in but doesn't make it inside. Luckily Christopher's brother sees Bo and gives him the diary.
Ali, Torey and Bo were all taken into the police station. A neighbor saw them standing outside the Creed home. Through all of this Torey realizes that Bo is not a bad guy and he feels guilty for judging the boons all this time. Torey begins distancing from the people he thought were his friends.
When they read the diary, they discover Christopher had a girlfriend. Torey and Ali paid her a visit to see if she might now were Creed was. After meeting the girlfriend they discover Creed made up most of the relationship. It was as if he created his own world in his diary. the girl's aunt was a psychic. She told Torey he would find Creed's body when he was alone in the woods.
Torey goes in the woods behind his house where he used to play as a child. There was an old Indian burial ground back there. He find a treasure map that Creed had created years before. In the darkness Torey is very frightened of what he may find. He tips over one of the rocks and breaks his leg. In doing this he discovers an underground cave containing bodies. Some of them were bodies of Indians but Torey notices one that is not. Right before his eyes the body starts disintegrated and there is a horrible smell.
Torey thinks he has found the body of Creed but it was really was Bob Haines. His son had disappeared years before and the people in the town thought Bob was responsible. He went to the cave and committed suicide. Torey spent several months getting treatment in a mental institution. He transferred schools but he never gave up on finding Creed. He created a website dedicated to Creed. Torey also wrote out the story of what happened. He thought Creed moved away and maybe had assumed a combination of names from the boys he wished to be like. Torey searched for names based on those listed in the note. Torey would email the story to the people and wait for a response. Torey never gave up his opinion that Creed was still alive.
This book has several good messages to use with teens. Several lives were ruined in the book by people spreading rumors. The community thought Bob Haines killed his son and made his life so terrible that he committed suicide. Mrs. Creed thought Bo killed her son and was hell bent on ruining his life. Torey's friends thought he had something to do with Creed's disappearance so he transferred schools. Eventhough many of things said were not true, people chose to believe them. People do not want to live their lives with a dark cloud of suspicion following them.
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