49 pages • 1 hour read
Matt de la PeñaA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Kidd remembers his father spinning him around and giving him a motorcycle ride to school. He recalls his father’s appearance: dark skin, long brown hair, beard. Once, Kidd came home with a Superman cape a stranger bought for him, only for his dad to rip it to shreds while growling that they needed no charity. Another time, his father broke his nose. Kidd’s most significant memory is listening together to a song about loving someone but not caring about them. When the song ended, his father cried, for his dad had just died.
One day, after Devon visits, Kidd follows him. He watches Devon play chicken with an oncoming train, laughing and jumping off the tracks just before getting hit. After observing Devon in the park and at a gas station, he trails him across the highway and under a bridge. There, Kidd discovers Devon’s “secret life.” In a spot littered with mattresses and trash, Devon sits with a homeless girl and woman. The girl, who seems familiar to Kidd, tries to kiss Devon. Pushing her away, he talks about hurting another person because violence is in his DNA.
Kidd becomes obsessed with following Devon. One night, he shadows him and the girl to a giant drainpipe.
By Matt de la Peña