Tony LaRoche -- nicknamed "The Rock" -- is one in a million. Strong, handsome, self-assured, happy-go-lucky, he is the leader of a neighborhood group that includes the roly-poly Simon, Brian (for anatomical reasons called Beak) and Rock's younger sister, Nikki, who always has to tag along.
Rock's "gang" comes up against a real gang led by tough-guy Marco, but through these adventures and the normal process of growing up together, their friendship as a foursome only deepens.
But it is tested severely as Tony gets into drugs and his grades slip from low to subterranean, his father's car wash business fails, Beak moves out to the suburbs, Simon gets a girlfriend -- finally -- and Nikki becomes a young woman.
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
Rock's "gang" comes up against a real gang led by tough-guy Marco, but through these adventures and the normal process of growing up together, their friendship as a foursome only deepens.
But it is tested severely as Tony gets into drugs and his grades slip from low to subterranean, his father's car wash business fails, Beak moves out to the suburbs, Simon gets a girlfriend -- finally -- and Nikki becomes a young woman.
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
Used availability for Paul Kropp's The Rock