Walk Away Home — Paul Many

Don't break the prime directive―never look back.

Talk about marching to the beat of a different drummer. Nick has been out of step ever since his older brother was killed twelve years ago in a car crash.

Since then his conversations with his parents usually take place via their answering machine, his sense of humor gets him detentions, and the fire he causes earns him a one-way ticket to military school. Firmly believing there was never any trouble he couldn't walk away from, he treks miles across the state to visit his fugitive aunt―maybe the only person alive who can hear his inner drummer. She's found a home at a commune full of ex-hippies and lost souls, where, not surprisingly, Nick fits right in. But before he can get too comfortable, Nick gets involved with a girl, Diana, who has far more serious problems than he's ever faced.

Not only must he try to save Diana from her dark past and convince his parents he can be trusted, but most important, he has to convince himself not to walk away the next time trouble comes along.