This is the first in a young adult series star­ring Mick­ey Boli­tar, who has lost his father to a car acci­dent and his mom to drugs. Both par­ents belonged to a ​“Do Good” type of cult and spent their lives try­ing to help peo­ple. When sent to live with his Uncle Myron, who has been estranged from the fam­i­ly, Mick­ey has to switch high schools, make new friends and also, unfor­tu­nate­ly, ene­mies. Into this mix throw a gor­geous new girl­friend (who van­ish­es into a seedy under­world), a fat female pal (who doesn’t), and a con­spir­a­cy as shock­ing as it is unex­pect­ed. It also involves a mys­te­ri­ous witch-like elder­ly woman who knew his father very well. This is a book that puls­es with excite­ment, tragedy, humor, sus­pense and sur­prise – its Jew­ish connection.