When he and his younger sister move in with their older brother after their grandmother dies, thirteen-year-old Gordy finds himself caught between the boy he was when he lived with his abusive father and the boy his grandmother was helping him become. In the third title in Mary Downing Hahn's acclaimed series, Gordy thought he had left his old hometown behind him once and for all, but his troubles there are beginning all over again. In North Carolina, Gordy's life had finally seemed to be on the right track. He was happy living with his firm but loving grandmother, his best friend lived next door, and he was even starting to get good grades. After moving back to College Hill, he and his sister, June, have to live in a cramped apartment with their brother, Stu, and his new family. The principal at Gordy's school immediately has it in for him, his old pals encourage him to cause trouble, and his one-time nemesis, Elizabeth, hates him more than ever and can't see that he's changed. Will he slip back into his old trouble-making ways for good, or will he be able to keep growing into the person his grandmother was helping him become?

A sequel to: Following my own footsteps.