Against The Wind

Michael Marino and his hard core Marine Drill Sergeant father had just moved to a small town in New Jersey to try and start a new life. With plans to attend his second year in a new high school, and after dealing with the recent death of his mother, Michael finds it hard to make new friends. On his first day of high school, Michael stumbles into a friendship with two neighborhood boys, Eric, a mild mannered class clown, and Martin, a talkative chubby boy with a heart of gold. It is not long before Michael begins to date Lisa, a quiet and shy long dark hair girl from his school.While trying to fit in, Michael gets into a tangle with a couple of neighborhood bullies and quickly gets the reputation of being the neighborhood bad boy. A wedge is then driven between Michael and his father that leads Michael down a difficult path. A chance meeting causes Michael to befriend a junkie, Rich, who sees Michael's future better than Michael sees it himself. Through it all, Lisa seems to be the only one able to get through to Michael and sees his good nature. Although their love never blossoms, Lisa's close friend Elizabeth, manages to hide her feelings toward Michael and through her own hardships, becomes Michael's voice of reason.Michael is the confused and troublesome teenage boy who is forced to learn about life, death, and unconditional love at an early age. Rich is a particularly powerful character who blurs the good boy/bad boy line. Eric portrays the well drawn best friend character whose innocents gives support to Michael. Lisa transcends as the usual teen heroine with her unconditional love and support for Michael through her good sense. Michael's relationship with his father and their reconcile is perhaps the most touching of the story.