Do you pity or dislike TJ?

I'm not sure if I pity or dislike TJ. Throughout the book he makes a number of decisions which lead him into trouble or cause him problems. There are a few attributes to his personality which I think most people would dislike, but as you read through the book you can see that he is vulnerable and actually doesn't mean to cause so many problems. The first time in the book that TJ is introduced …

…is very hard. We understand he is trouble but he is a young boy and he goes through things which should not be experienced by a young child. In that respect we feel sympathy for him. TJ gets himself into troublesome circumstances and this causes us to dislike him. I feel that TJ does try not to hurt people but he is an attention seeker, and will go to any length to have peoples attention.