How I Became a Fisherman Named Pete — David Spencer

Tom, who becomes a fisherman named Pete, the young protagonist of David Spencer's first novel, might well as himself, as Hillel did in the First Century: If I am not for myself, who is for me? Sympathetic readers will want to tell Tom: Please don't trust people so much. Stop taking up for life's castaways and the casualties, you'll be a casualty yourself!

If I am for myself alone, what am I? Well, for starters, Tom, you are aren't bumping down the street from door to door asking for work washing windows. You aren't cutting your hands on trash fish or getting the stuffing beaten out of you because you think being right protects you somehow.

But you were right: you were protected - and blessed. All the hardship led to happiness, though you never really knew what you wanted and couldn't even distinguish your best interests. And though you had no special talent for friendship, nearly everyone you met became a friend or loved you. Many saw the good in you without you seeing exactly what you were good for. Your readers will see this too, while your story unfolds, and they find themselves giving goodness and innocence more of a chance. If not now, when?