Only for Now

ISBN: 0595136613

Author: Melillo, Stephen

Condition: New

"He was a highly dedicated, abnormally skilled, confused and powerful boy, a trained killer who had hired himself to do a job." Seventeen-year-old Stephen Rinaldi went into the ring. Literal and internal, it was a ring with powerful, politically connected enemies. They wanted to crush him before he had even the chance of becoming a man. No training, no prayers, no prior life experience had prepared him.Only for Now is a fast-paced action-adventure for adolescents of all ages. Told by his student and friend, Lenny Greenman, Only for Now tells how one individual took a beating in every way a person might, yet stood tall in a world that tried to "kick him in another direction". Amidst the divorce of his parents, bitter backstabbing betrayals, the ridicule of buddies who once called him friend, and the unexplained and hurtful end of his first love, Stephen leaves home for his first year of college. Exceptionally skilled in the Chinese martial art, he inadvertently challenges another karate/kung fu teacher named Yang. Yang and his school of more than 125 students, become Stephen's adversaries on a distant college campus far from home. His life literally goes into the ring, a struggle outside and within, a choice between turning the other cheek and fighting back... hard.All of Rinaldi's beliefs are put to severe testing as he becomes a teacher himself. Seven-year-old Jennifer teaches Stephen to stand against Goliath-like forces and never surrender Hope.In Only for Now, one person collides with the many people who want him gone. He faces formidable foes and literally goes "under cover"... but in the end, Stephen Rinaldi emerges as a real-to-life Hero.Life is short, but wide. Only for Now is wide and stands as a lasting testament to those who believe that growing up need not mean, "giving in."