A high school guidance counselor gives Steve York the chance to make up a failing English grade and graduate by writing a 100-page paper. "Write about what you know," the counselor tells him, and what Steve knows best are a tense relationship with his father, a famous astronaut, and the pain of betrayal in love. But as he writes about his life--never living up to his father's expectations, sweetness and excitement of falling in love (and of emotional and physical intimacy) and, ultimately, the devastation he experiences when that love goes away, Steve discovers that time and distance not only can help one heal, they can also open up new perspectives on the past. Hard, funny, and emotionally honest, with a tender portrayal of teenage love and sexuality, Rats Saw God is written with a deep respsect for the intensity of feeling experienced by adolescents and young adults. (Age 15 and older)