If I Fall, If I Die

Will Cardiel and his mother are shut-ins, staying inside their house in a rural lakeside town in Canada because his mother has Will convinced that the outside world is fatally dangerous. One day, however, curiosity overcomes him, and he ventures out and meets another boy. Their brief encounter leads him to further exploration and interaction with other children, but the boy he first met has vanished. Prying himself further from his mother's grip, Will enrolls in school and slowly tries to make sense of other human beings and the world, even as his mother's tragic story is gradually revealed, Will's search for his missing friend results in him meeting another boy, with whom he takes up skateboarding (debut novelist Christie was a professional skateboarder), and together they begin to uncover the dark side of the town. In the meantime, Will bravely pursues clues to his first friend's disappearance despite threats from some local thugs, and his mother may actually have to leave the house to save him.