The words of the Dean of Students echoed in his mind like a message of doom. "Well, Mr. Brady, I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but you still didn't make it." At first, there had been that brief moment of shocked disbelief. Surely, he had thought, he's not really saying this. But then, the awesome finality of the pronouncement hit him. He had botched his second and final attempt to score high enough on the English comprehensive exams to graduate. The realization that he would now never get his degree from Princeton stunned him. It was as if he had been dealt a vicious physical blow. How was he going to face the embarrassment and the shame of forever having to explain how he had completed four years in this place and had nothing to show for it? But, more immediately-and far more distressing-what was going to happen when he told his father? The news could lead to another stroke. Walter had never felt so devastated and alone. Pummeled by even further misfortune and tragedy, Walter, in a make-or-break attempt to get his life back on track, takes an extraordinary gamble-he embarks on the long and daunting quest to become a naval aviator.