I’m SO glad to learn this was written in 1992. As someone who has a loved one with Down Syndrome, the derogatory usage of the word “retard” pervasive throughout this book was so offensive, I nearly returned it several times. The horrific treatment of Randy throughout the book made me root for the poor kid most of the story which was definitely NOT the emotion the author was trying for!! I really don’t understand why he made the decision to write the character this way – it lacks creativity and perpetuates societies belief that we should “fear the other.” The story could have been fantastic if the author just used a nasty, bratty child – the decision to make the kid have a disability adds nothing to the story besides offensiveness. I’m just glad it was written in 1992 – I’m going to chalk it up to the author not knowing any better back then and assume he wouldn’t write something like this in 2019 – if he does write like this again, it will be the last time I purchase his work.