*the controlled rage that is a hidden byproduct of school failure;
*the frustration of the help-seeking process;
*the powerlessness of everyone involved in that process--students, families, teachers, and helping professionals;
*the ultimate hope for reversal of both the failure and the rage.
By reconstructing Tony's life and each affront to his sensitivies and self-worth, we see another kind of failure--not of the boy but of the school and professional systems--failure to listen to what was really happening for Tony, and failure to really communicate with each other.