Sparrow

Edition excerpt from Sparrow (1990): Jumpy McNabb is a problem child. Only five years old, Jumpy is already a world-class troublemaker. Lying, stealing, and beating up younger kids, he seems well on his way to a life in prison. What causes such extraordinary behavior in such a young boy? Is it Jumpy's mother, a tough, loveless woman given to entertaining a host of one night stands at home? Is it his great-grandfather, and aged gangster who disciplines Jumpy with threats of the "Boys' Jail" if he's bad? Is it his junkie father, long absent from Jumpy's life and unable to provide any guidance? Is it his young cousin, a wiseguy wannabe, eager to recruit the impressionable child? Or is it Jumpy himself? Is he somehow just bad, incapable of any decency or kindness? Not even Jumpy knows.