Saving Jasey

Summary: Gavin's family situation is so horrendous that he often retreats to his friend Trist's home where he revels in the easy give and take of the seemingly perfect McVeigh family. Gavin is in love with Trist's older sister, Jasey. Slowly, inexorably, this position of safety begins to erode as Jasey and Trist face the fact that Huntington's Disease, which has reduced their great uncle to a shell in a nursing home, has also begun to claim their beloved grandfather. Huntington's is a genetic disease, and so Jasey and Trist know that they also may contract this devastating illness. As anxiety rises in the McVeigh household, Jasey begins to act out, getting involved with Gavin's older brother, Blake, a bully who is a stooge for the local drug dealer. Gavin's sympathetic, supportive teacher persists in teaching him to read, and Gavin persists in helping his brother in spite of Blake's abuse. The violence that permeates this novel culminates in a horrifying gun incident. Saving Jasey is, however, ultimately an uplifting story in which the characters choose forgiveness and life over revenge and despair.