Thirteen-year-old Sal, traveling with her grandparents from Ohio to Idaho in search of her missing mother, entertains them with the story of her friend Phoebe whose mother also left, unwittingly revealing the truth about her own relationship with her mom.
Discovering a speech-disabled boy asleep on their porch, young couple John and Marta forge a loving bond with the child and come to think of him as their own while wondering about his mysterious past and enjoying the world through his eyes.