Book excerpt: From the Newbery Award-winning author of Across Five Aprils and Up a Road Slowly comes a tale of a brave young man’s struggle to find his own strength during the Great Depression. “A powerfully moving story.”—Chicago Daily News In 1932, American's dreams were simple: a job, food to eat, a place to sleep, and shoes without holes. But for millions of people these simple needs were nothing more than dreams. At fifteen years of age, Josh has to make his own way through a country of angry and frightened people. This is the story of a young man’s struggle to find a life for himself in the most turbulent of times.