Cruise Control

Plot

How sick is this: Iâ²m the major jock-stud in high school, but my brother has the brain of a badminton birdie and a body to match. Iâ²ve got everything and heâ²s got nothing. Iâ²m a three-year, three-sport letterman and Shawn canâ²t even stand up! Like I said, sick, huh? Itâ²s hard to be a brother to someone who doesnâ²t even know youâ²re there. How can you talk to him when he canâ²t understand a thing you say? How can you listen to him when he canâ²t speak a word? How can you love him when heâ²s so messed up, he canâ²t love you back? And how can you have a life of your own when your father bailed on the family, leaving you to be the "man of the house"? Fueled by rage at what has happened to his family, Paul is ready to explode. And he is haunted by something even worse -- something he can never tell anyone. It is something he will have to face if he is to have any hope of a future at all. While Cruise Control is a companion to Terry Truemanâ²s Printz Honor book, Stuck in Neutral, it is the completely independent story of a familyâ²s "other" son -- the one who is healthy, gifted, normal. It is a courageously hopeful story told with power, compassion, and humor.