When Duncan goes back to his small private boarding school for his senior year, he can't believe his misfortune. He's been assigned the worst possible room on the boy's hall. Each year, the senior who lived there the previous year leaves a "treasure" for the new resident. Sometimes it's cash, sometimes a puppy, sometimes it's nothing more than junk. Duncan finds a pile of CDs, and thinks his treasure falls into the junk category, until he begins to listen.
Tim, the previous resident of Duncan's room, has recorded his story. How he came to the school in his last semester, and how he fell in love with one of the most popular girls in the class in the airport on the way there.
We hear the story from two viewpoints, Tim's and Duncan's, but it's Tim that I most connected with. He is an albino, which means he has no pigment in his skin or hair. He struggles mightily to not let this condition define him. As a reader, you can feel his love for Vanessa, who unfortunately is in a relationship with a boy who doesn't treat her well. She loves Tim, too, but we wonder if she will ever be able to see past Tim's albinism.
As Duncan listens to the CDs, we begin to realize that something horrible happened at the end of Tim and Vanessa's senior year. The suspense waiting to find out what it is was almost unbearable. I loved this book. The writing, the characters, the story, were all spot-on, and I think it will stick with me for a long, long time.
