In 1960, amidst a troubled life in St. Paul, Minnesota, fourteen year old Raynold Penfield could not be more unhappy. He is losing his mother to cancer, his father is overworked, stressed out, and inattentive, and he finds himself having to take care of himself, with no one to look up to. His grades are miserable, his friends are turning their backs on him, and he feels as though the world is against him. He cannot determine a purpose for his life. After a conflict with his father, Raynold escapes St. Paul after his mother dies. He soon finds solace with a kind family who treat him as one of their own. However, he quickly discovers that his problems haven’t been left behind. Thugs, traps, kidnapping, and threats all await him. But when his new friends are threatened, Raynold mobilizes to defeat them. Can he make it out stronger than he did when he left