When Stephen and his best mate Hangan save a greyhound called Monster, the boys form an unbreakable bond. But they have more in common than their love for a dog. Together they share the pain of growing up with fathers who are difficult: one distant and out of touch with his son, the other violent in the extreme.
Together the boys train Monster, and Stephen dreams of success and an escape for all of them. For he is afraid for his friend and of the grim reality of his life, afraid of the precarious relationships Hangan has with his dangerous father . . .
2001 CBC Honour Book of the Year.