"Skateaway chronicles three stages in the lives of Clem, Garrett, and Samantha Boone, who try to lead conventional existences in a mill town in the Ohio River Valley. Unfortunately, their best efforts are thwarted by forces close to home. Kendall, their father, is an artist battling mental illness, and their mother, Mercer, is an OB/GYN who works in an abortion clinic."--BOOK JACKET. "Many of the more difficult moments in the lives of these children inflate to disproportionate size because they occur against the backdrop of a conservative, working-class landscape. Often the Boone siblings are forced to confront taunting schoolmates, the gossip spread by neighbors, and threats of violence from anti-abortion protesters."--BOOK JACKET. "Yet even as they yearn to lead normal lives, neither Clem nor Garrett nor Samantha can resist the impulse to escape, each in his or her own way. And ultimately, their lives are anything but normal, as the harrowing climax of the novel demonstrates - they're as cool and slippery, as brittle and breakable as ice."--BOOK JACKET.