"This is the true story of my life, the life of David Jonathan Yellowfeather, as I saw it and lived it, and the questions I asked along the way."

It's the last day of Summer vacation. David's having a wonderful day: swimming, hiking, spending every minute outside at the river and in the forest. But then evening comes, and his foster mom, Annie gives him the news: David's back ache is not going to go away. David has cancer and it is very advanced. David has only months to live.

This is David's story of wrestling with relationships, faith, and identity. David's story may surprise you. No doom and gloom here: only raw courage, deep laughter, and a tender well of joy filling, overflowing, and oozing out the pages, as David discovers treasure in what others have discarded.

" . . . I think I will never know in full why I am who I am, or why I lived and died in only fourteen years (or fifteen, if I make it to May 5th). But it doesn't matter so much today. I know now that just my being here, and doing what I had to do every day—washing dishes, cleaning the barn, goofing off, weeding the garden, swimming in the river, laughing with Annie and Arabella—all those things were what really mattered. They were like little roots that change the course of other little roots and alter how this tree and that tree, and all the trees in the forest grow . . ."