Book excerpt: Frustrated by the mediocre spirituality of the people of his rural Southern community and stunned by their melancholy lives, eighteen-year-old Russell Hicks proceeds on his quest to discover a life that is out of the ordinary. He refuses to accept the superficial religiosity of the town. At first, the townspeople see Russell as a hero, since his actions inspire people toward undreamt-of significance. Then the Act Teens, a vigilant high school society, order Russell to operate under their supervision, but he refuses. The Act Teens see this as an act of defiance, and Russell must take the consequences. Striving to stick up for his beliefs, he encounters cruelty and rejection from a society that does not accept adifferent.a The leaders of the Act Teens, along with a powerful clergyman, produce a plan to end Russellas influence in the town. This plan will leave a mark on the town forever.