The Cornerstone — Randall Beth Platt

Ian McKenzie is a bright fifteen-year-old street kid who's been sent to a Washington State summer camp in 1944 to be straightened out. Andy Ackerman, the counselor assigned to the camp's charity cases, is a young man fresh from the war in the Pacific, tough, angry, but understanding. Through Ackerman's tough love and the sharing of a strenuous task, Ian gains pride and a sense of honor. It is Ackerman's tragedy that forms the cornerstone of McKenzie's life and makes this coming-of-age novel so compelling.