Melvin Yoshio Tanouye

Hollywood City Lights Melvin Yoshio Tanouye

Jonathon Tanner, only fifteen, is so desperate he decides to run away and boards a bus in Phoenix, Arizona bound for Hollywood, California, in search of his father. He's running to escape the violence and abuse in his mother, Cheryl's home. But the outside world isn't any safer than his home. He's targeted by a sexual predator on the bus. He narrowly escapes, only to become the victim of bullying thugs who take his wallet with his father's Hollywood address and telephone number inside. Now alone and broke, he accepts a ride to Hollywood from Marvin, an older man who wants to help him. He lies to Marvin about where he's going and tells him to let him out by Grauman's Chinese Theater. Now alone on the streets of a strange city, Jonathon hooks up with the raw underbelly of Hollywood street life when he meets another runaway, Brandy, and her crowd. You, the reader will ache for these youngsters who are trying to survive by any means they can.