Stars fall from the high, Texas sky and storms sweep in off the Gulf in the summer of 1954 as a polio epidemic spreads fear and uncertainty among the residents of the small town of Rainey. The Platt family endures a season of hardships; a time when the youngest daughter, eleven-year-old Willa Platt, searches for her place in her family and in the universe through a summer of life-changing relationships. When an elderly, ailing Aunt with a somewhat mysterious past and a young boy who befriends Willa both come to the quiet, little town of Rainey unexpectedly, she finds her world altered forever. Previously surrounded by a lifetime of love and security, Willa is awakened to the reality of loss and sorrow as unseen enemies invade her world; one that can take your life - another, much darker and more frightening - that can take your very soul. Before the summer ends, Willa finds herself wondering what God must be thinking in this - the worst, and the best summer of her life.