An automobile accident has killed thirteen-year-old Daisy Dean's father and left her confined to a wheelchair. Making life more unbearable, the terms of her father's will stipulate that Daisy and her mother must move from her beloved New York to the small town of Peanut, Texas, her father's birthplace. Daisy hates her new town. She hates her new school. She hates her wheelchair. Mostly, Daisy hates her new schoolmates and the townspeople, whom she considers unruly and none too bright. At first, her haughty attitude and smart mouth keep any potential friends at quite a distance. Gradually, against all instincts, Daisy Dean begins to feel somewhat at home in the harsh Texas landscape and guardedly comfortable with people different from herself. Slowly, the Texans also warm to the prickly but interesting young New Yorker and encourage her to take up the sport of wheelchair racing. Before she can feel truly at home, Daisy must discover why her father left Peanut as a young man and solve a mystery he left behind. The solution to that mystery will determine whether Daisy can ever be happy in her new life.