Personal growth within the main protagonist is the most important aspect of the story. Steven Alper begins this fascinating tale of adversity with a sarcastic, rude, and hateful attitude. He unquestionably dislikes his brother, Jeffery who is neither coarse nor does he possess the tornado like energy an elementary school student may possess, but because he idolizes Steven, he must be at his side and talk of all the "cool" stories about his rock star brother. "My brother practices his drum beats in his blue underwear every morning," Jeffie tells Steven's band friends. Steven is embarrassed by his brothers existence. Steven not only hates this brotherly aspect of life, he disapproves of the fact that Renee Albert doesn't pay attention to him, he loves her to the stretches of the galaxy, he is shallow and only likes her because she is beautiful, has long swaying blond hair, a fit slim body, and nice round healthy pink cheeks. He can't resist staring and drooling over her constantly, especially when she is sashaying in her tight revealing cheerleading outfit. One day in a band practice, Steven was flying through his drum beats, bip bop booty bop bop boodoo, his hands were lightning fast, however, Renee came in through the double doors and instantly drove Steven out of his boppen beat, his sticks went flying all over the place, one off the stage and the other into the fragile brass horn of the soloing trumpet nearby. He's got it bad. The beginning of this tale are prime examples of stereotypical teenage emotions.
This lasting unnecessary attitude towards Jeff comes to an abrupt stop when Jeffie is diagnosed with ALL (Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia). Steven begins feeling a sorrowful sympathy for his brother seeing what was happening to him with his very own eyes. Bone marrow transplants included gigantic needles being injected into his chest. Chemotherapy radiated his body freeing his head from hair. Constant doses of powerful medication regularly made him nauseous and vomit. The cancer weakened his skin and bone strength, leaving deep black ugly bruises in his skin. The pain of normal everyday activities such as brushing teeth or going to the bathroom were excruciating. This is a horrible sight for Steven who truly feels sorry for his little brother in a way he never had before.
The continued change of Steven Alper is immense. His admiration of his brothers courage and bravery during the eight months of pain, and all of the up's and down's lead to his new found sensitivity giving him not only to the ability to love his brother, but also to understand and respect girls in his school for what they can do and who they are, and not only pay attention to their outside appearances. He realizes whatever's on the inside matters most. Looking beyond beauty, he chooses to date the one girl, Annette, that likes and admires him for the qualities that make him unique, such as his amazing drum skills or his vow to stay by his brother at all times. Renee, on the other hand, only pays attention to him because his brother's leukemia.
Steven throughout the story deals with many tough conflicts and hardships, all of which lead to his transformation. Challenges he faces, such as whether or not to let Renee Albert into his house when she has a cold that may kill his brother, leave him conflicted. When word got out that Jeff had cancer, neither Steven nor his father took it very well. His father went into a state of deep depression, not giving Steven updates on his brother's condition in the hospital. Steven also was having unnatural nightmares and breakdowns, constantly crying in his fathers arms. At night when he fell asleep, he would dream the same dream of Jeffery bruised to death by snowballs. His only escape was his passion, playing drums. As the months rolled by, Steven began to go into a phase of hopeful bargaining, "if I brush my teeth well this morning, Jeffery might just get better." He also began failing his schoolwork and tuning out of class, he received a 39 on his Math Middle School Finals, he flat out failes it. However, through all these calamities, Steven matures and acts like a man. He sticks by Jeffies side all through the mornings, days, and nights, even sadly giving up his big drum solo, in Cubana Be Cubana Bop, to go to the hospital to be with his brother. It turns out to be a minor ear infection. No matter, he'd sacrifice his life, Steven does anything to help his brother.
Steven Alper, once an uncaring selfish superficial being, becomes a mindful full-time brother to an unfortunate little brother, a prodigious drummer for the All-City Jazz Band, a deep thoughtful person that can look beyond beauty, and one who has learned to deal with adults who are emotionally and financially impaired. He has now matured greatly, over the past year, and he has learned to cope with very difficult issues within his depressing, insane, and dramatic year of learning the essence of life and what it has to offer whether or not it is good or bad.
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