who is georgie?

Georgie Burgess is a seven year-old-boy from Tampa Florida. As the book begins, he seems to be an aggressive, mean boy. He has repeated the first grade twice and still does not know how to read. In school, his teachers take no interest in him and his schoolmates laugh at him whenever he struggles in class. Georgie appears to be a bully that no one can control, but it turns out that he has been abused at home ever since he was a child. His mother lets his stepfather beat him relentlessly. No one does anything to help Georgie and the boy will not admit that he is being beaten out of fear. The only thing that Georgie can connect with is a rosebush that he won in a lottery. The rosebush reminds him of the beauty of a garden that he has found in a book. The book allows for Georgie to escape into a world where others can no longer hurt him.