The biological son of a white mother and a half African American, half Japanese father, The Tao Jones known as T. J. lives with his loving, adoptive white family in the nearly all white town of Cutter, Washington. T. J. 's adoptive mother, Abby, is a child abuse lawyer, and his adoptive father, John Paul Jones, is a community volunteer and guardian ad litem who is still haunted from his youth, in which he accidentally killed a child in a driving incident after a one night stand with the child 's mother. At Cutter High School, T. J. is a physically impressive senior who has refused to join any sports teams due to his childhood history of anger management issues. His non-involvement irritates much of the faculty, who pride themselves on the physical achievements of their students, displaying favoritism toward their star athletes, such as Mike Barbour, a vicious bully. T. J. often finds Barbour harassing Chris Coughlin an intellectually student who must unfairly live in the wake of a widely-admired older brother who died in a freak accident. A group of misfits are brought together by t.j. and struggle to find their places in school. T.j. is convinced that a varsity jacket will help him fit in in the high school. Together they fight for dignity in the school. …show more content…
He would tell us to make good decisions and reflect on them that day and see if we could’ve changed anything to make them better. He would tell us to be respectful to everybody especially our teachers. He would tell us about his mistakes and how he changed from being a misfit to a good kid. He would give us tips on how to change our bad personalities to excellent ones. He would tell us to be kind and peaceful. He would tell us to love all and be compassionate to every