Under Boy Scout Colors

In the small town of Hillsgrove, fourteen-year-old Dale Tompkins dreams of wearing Boy Scout colors, but earning them will test everything he believes about himself. When he hears a child's scream on a rain-soaked afternoon and races toward a boy lying helpless against a live electrical wire, Dale discovers that courage isn't something you announce, it's something you do. The path to Scout camp isn't straightforward: Dale must navigate the cruelty of Ranny Phelps, a troop leader who sees him as weak, and prove himself among boys who've known each other since they could walk. But this isn't a story about winning badges. It's about what it costs to stand when everyone expects you to run, and whether genuine bravery looks the way you imagined it would when you were young. Ames captures the raw, aching need to belong and the surprising moments that define who we actually become.