Drummond is a thirteen-year-old boy with an unbalanced equation. His life at home seems strong, but his musical realm lacks substance. As the young boy pushes harder into the world of the marching band, his family, though supportive, grows apart both figuratively and literally. As most young ones do, Drummond tends to ignore many familial situations that occur around him. This is made clear throughout the book as an illustration of the naivete of Drummond, who focuses only on the band. In fact, Drummond is so concerned about which instrument he needs to play that most of the things he learns about his family happen on the car ride to and from band practice. This is a perfect way to portray a young boy’s innocence while distracted by something much more important to him and his short-term future. Most kids don’t see past the nearest obstacle to plan for the future, and this novel hits that square on the mark! By the book’s conclusion, we see the teeter-totter has flipped, and Drummond has a successful musical hobby while his home life is helplessly left in disarray. This is not seen as a sacrifice but more as a matter-of-fact result by way of true life. The novel has both a happy and unhappy ending which is both genuine and also an ordinary occurrence in homes everywhere. Though Drummond has grown tremendously as a person, his equation remains unbalanced.