Wrong Side of the Map

Twelve-year-old Miles lives in a gated community and has been told his whole life to avoid the south side of town. When his bike chain breaks during a solo ride, he ends up stranded in the exact neighborhood his parents warned him about — and discovers that 'dangerous' is often just 'different.'

Miles Reeder was twelve years old and lived in Briarwood Estates, a gated community on the north end of Millbrook. He had a blue ten-speed bike, a phone with a cracked screen, and a habit of riding alone on Saturday mornings before the neighborhood woke up. His parents were good people who loved him, but they had always told him the same thing: stay on this side of town.

'The south side isn't safe,' his mom would say whenever she locked the car doors driving through. Miles had never questioned it. It was just a fact of his life, like gravity or homework.