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Riggle, a 17-year-old orphan living with his uncle, is suspended from school for a week for vaping and for his sarcastic tongue.

Opioid, Indiana, is the story of the boy’s week as his drug-addicted uncle disappears and $800 in rent for their apartment is due Friday. As he tells his story, Riggle relates his complicated past that brought him from Texas searching for stability.

As he tries to make sense of his world, the boy journeys back in time when his mother was alive and used shadow puppets to tell stories about how the days of the week got their names. And he shares how his parents died, leaving him scarred, homeless, and confused.

Author Brian Allen Carr guides Riggle and a cast of misfits through a week of adventure and the issues of racism, sexuality, Confederate flags, and the age of Trump. I was both baffled and uplifted by the youth’s life and decisions, but I always wanted to find out what was around the next corner.

And I rooted for Riggle all the way.