Look at the cover. Really, really, look at it. Fuzzy guy, right? That's because the illustrator did a phenomenal job, in my opinion, of representing this book. Deming, the young boy whose mother disappeared when he was 11, never was able to get a handle of who he was. He loved his mother, loved his life, and then it all went away with her. He was shipped off to the suburbs to well meaning people who decided to fill their voids with adopting a child. Deming doesn't do well with school. He looks at the world through music, but only his music. And he's a gambler, which has gotten him into trouble.
On the other side we have Polly, who is Deming's mother. She knows what she wants, is determined to make a life, and then she is told she can't have the life she wanted. And as she grows older, she becomes less certain.
Interesting book for our book club. It touches on several issues of today, showing how they are all connected- immigration, teenage pregnancy, socioeconomic stuff, adoption, gambling, and identity.