This book is about a family consisting of a controlling, abusive, drug addictive father, a neglectful mother, and their children. The children fear for their own futures as well as their health. The children befriend caring and protective neighbors who have been witness to similar behaviors in the past. The neighbors, an elderly couple, become very protective of the children, They attempt to provide for the children the type of good examples that they hope will stir the children's imagination and create a pride in them so as to be better persons than the examples they have become accustomed to seeing at home.
It becomes a precipitous course as the father, being wary of any kind of interference in his control of the family interjects his prejudices into the relationship. Then the father befriends the neighbors in an attempt to use their financial means to improve his own financial position. The children's friends become wary of the of the fathers intentions because of their learning of previous acquaintances of the family who have had to resort to the law in order to have their properties returned. The children's friends feel they have to make proper the decisions to protect themselves in the future from any financial losses. These decisions result in further confrontations with the father.