Most of the people in Black Creek attend the Holiness Church of God. If they look for the light of His love, He will help them cast off darkness so they can shine.Īunt Tildy attends a Bible study. She tells the kids that God will always be there to guide them home. When another driver calls Mama Sweetie a fat b–ch, she exemplifies “turn the other cheek” by telling the kids that responding to ugliness with ugliness is not the right way to handle things. Cat recalls that she, Patrick and Mama Sweetie used to sing hymns and church songs together.

Mama Sweetie taught Patrick and Cat that life is precious and that God has a reason for everything, even the things they don’t understand. Mama Sweetie, Patrick’s grandmother, raised him from when he was orphaned at 3 until her recent death. When Cat tells Patrick what happened to Beef, the teens decide to protect Beef’s reputation by not telling anyone that he was strung out on meth, and they decide to let authorities believe that a truckload of unknown out-of-towners beat up Patrick. Shortly after, Patrick awakens from his coma. By the end of the book, Beef is strung out on meth at Suicide Rock, and he falls to his death. But the intervention failed, and Beef, in his rage, attacked Patrick. He also turns out to be Patrick’s secret boyfriend.īecause of Beef’s meth habit, Patrick, Christian and Tommy attempted an intervention with Beef at Suicide Rock. Over time, Cat learns that Beef is addicted to meth. Some of the boys in this gang are or have been runners for Wally, a gun-toting meth cooker with a sexual attraction for young girls. Then there’s Dupree, who’s involved in drugs, and Beef, who stands up for the underdog. The resulting confusion, anger and bitterness plagues Cat because she doesn’t know how to cope with what he did. When Cat was 13, Tommy sexually assaulted her. Tommy Lawson is the rich, good-looking leader.

Cat, who was one of only three kids in all of Black Creek to complete her junior year of high school, thinks that someone in her small town has attacked him, and she begins to search for the truth.Ĭat first turns her attention to the group of boys that her brother, Christian, hangs out with. Since Patrick is openly gay, authorities believe his beating was a hate crime perpetrated by an out-of-town homophobe. The hospital staff does what they can for him, but they do not know if he will eventually wake up.

In the rural town of Black Creek, N.C., 16-year-old Cat is horrified when her childhood friend Patrick is brutally beaten and left unconscious.

Shine by Lauren Myracle