Here is the quintessential story of a young hoodlum's coming of age. Alex Hamilton is young, intelligent, savvy, and independent - but also subject to violent fits of rage. Raised within the confines of a system that has done nothing but provide him with pain, his frustration and anger are completely natural - and inherently dangerous. Rebellious since his parents split up, Alex is constantly running from foster homes and institutions, yearning to be with his father, a broken man who cannot give his son the home he desperately needs. As Alex is pulled between well-meaning but exhausted social workers and viciously cruel authority figures, his emotions and actions are forever careening off these two disparate influences. Only one constant remains: his no-good, criminally minded peers, who are all too ready to plant illegal ideas in a young, bright mind that's already well on its way to social deviancy.