Tyler Miller was a high school loser, until he committed the Foul Deed. Everyone picked on him in the school locker room, especially Chip Millbury, Tyler’s Dad’s Boss’s son. As punishment for the Foul Deed (in which Tyler spray painted some choice words on the school), Tyler had to work for a landscaper and do janitorial work at the school over the summer. As a result, he grew very strong from the manual labor he was forced to perform. The author does a great job of describing the mental changes that he also goes through, but there is one thing that doesn’t change about his mind that is very critical about who Tyler really is. “Thinking about death relaxed me, as usual.” (Anderson, 30).

Once school starts, everyone notices the transformation that Tyler went through, even his high school crush, Bethany Millbury. There’s just one problem: she’s Chip’s sister. Tyler is faced with many decisions that he didn’t have before. He can now stand up to his verbally abusive father, and even fantasizes about killing him many times. It’s what he does with this new-found power that makes the book a great read. The events that Tyler is caught up in leads up to a climatic decision that shapes who he will finally become and change his outlook on his life. “When I read about a car crash, I didn’t imagine myself going through the windshield…It was the perfect day…” (Anderson, 228).