They are a group of people who live in an “unused subway station and never see the light of day in fear that it will burn them” (9). Some of the Downside is made up of "fallers", people who are usually homeless and have hit rock bottom with no where else to go. They then become part of the Downside community where they are completely happy because they have a place to live without many worries. One of the Downsiders is a fourteen year old boy named Talon who Lindsay describes as "long-haired, odd-clothed, and unusual-smelling"(14) Talon is brave and holds strong in his beliefs as a Downsider until he meets Lindsay, that's not to say that he doesn't do his fair share of rule-bending. Railborn and Gutta are Talon's lifelong friends (or so he thought.) Then there is The Champ. The Champ is, closely, seventy years old and lives in an unfilled swimming pool in New York. He might be described as “missing a few pickets from his little white fence.”(78) He and Talon sometimes play Monopoly in the empty pool, but Talon is a Downsider and The Champ is a Topsider so he is technically breaking the number one rule that a “Downsider must never set foot on Topside ground” (34) and especially not meet one of the
They are a group of people who live in an “unused subway station and never see the light of day in fear that it will burn them” (9). Some of the Downside is made up of "fallers", people who are usually homeless and have hit rock bottom with no where else to go. They then become part of the Downside community where they are completely happy because they have a place to live without many worries. One of the Downsiders is a fourteen year old boy named Talon who Lindsay describes as "long-haired, odd-clothed, and unusual-smelling"(14) Talon is brave and holds strong in his beliefs as a Downsider until he meets Lindsay, that's not to say that he doesn't do his fair share of rule-bending. Railborn and Gutta are Talon's lifelong friends (or so he thought.) Then there is The Champ. The Champ is, closely, seventy years old and lives in an unfilled swimming pool in New York. He might be described as “missing a few pickets from his little white fence.”(78) He and Talon sometimes play Monopoly in the empty pool, but Talon is a Downsider and The Champ is a Topsider so he is technically breaking the number one rule that a “Downsider must never set foot on Topside ground” (34) and especially not meet one of the