The Last Child

At the very beginning of the book Johnny set off to find a bald eagle simply to get a single feather. He ended up with the whole bird, dead in his backpack, with talon punctures deep in his forearm. Later on after he's witnessed a man's murder he leaves his bike with the police officers at the crime scene. One of the officers who is a quarter Cherokee takes notice to the large eagle feathers that Johnny had tied onto his bike, he tells the detective in charge of the case what meaning that the feathers had to his grandfather who actively participated in the culture. He said that the feathers were ones that only a leader would have which seemed very fitting for Johnny.
He is a kid that completely follows his own path ever since his twin sister was kidnapped. And even when told that he shouldn't do something if he feels in his gut that it's the right thing or something he needs to do he does it. Even if he has to do it alone, he at least creates a path for others to follow suit. Specifically the detective who worked on his sister's case, though Alyssa has yet to be found Johnny goes door to door to ask people recounts of the day she was kidnapped as well as anything that they noticed was off in the neighborhood. So, when another kidnapping happens he makes it a point to be on high alert in hopes that he can find his sister again. Which inspires Detective Hunt to keep out a very dim flicker of hope himself.
Johnny keeps Detective Hunt on edge though, entertained but also on edge. After being escorted back to his house Johnny sneaks out, drives his mother's car -mind you, he's thirteen- to her abusive boyfriend's house and throws a rock through his front window. Apparently the third time that month too, but he'd never gotten caught, at least not with Hunt keeping an eye out for him. But hunt states that he's not quite sure what to do with Johnny, or what would happen if he were to get caught. He's already gotten strikes against him since he hardly ever attends school, that and his mother's unstable mental state. Johnny's well being is always a concern of Hunt's thanks to all of these factors along with Johnny's father walking out on them and the unrealistic hope he has that his sister is still alive. Despite what anyone say's, especially Hunt, Johnny keeps at his hope and the little bit that he can defend himself from his mother's abusive boyfriend.