I can't believe I'm typing this but - the book needed to be longer. This book is a series of events that I really would have cared about if I'd been given time and reason to actually care about the characters. Instead, we have a series of confusing, unrealistic events. I beleive author was going for an "It" -like- feeling of it young teens from the 70s/80s saving the neighborhood against all odds (and adults) but it came off as the creative writing assignment of the main character, Curtis. Not a boring read, but not nearly as good as it could have been.