Winner of the PEN Center USA Literary Award for Children's Literature A New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age Winner of the 2004 Texas TAYSHAS High School Reading List When fifteen-year-old Mick Nichols discovers a secret about his stepmother, he comes obsessed with uncovering the truth. But before he can get to the bottom of it, Mick is confronted by a series of strange robberies and a close friend with a dark secret of her own. As he seeks out answers, Mick realizes that all of his problems are zipped up together—and he may have to go to drastic lengths to untangle them. “The McNeals spin a wonderfully rich story.”— Kirkus Reviews “A well-honed novel. . . . Readers will be sucked in.”— Publishers Weekly From the Hardcover edition.