A gifted child, Ricky Vail is orphaned too young to have been told he is the product of a "genius" sperm bank. Without another family member to take him in, Ricky is first reared at an orphanage and then in a foster home where he and his foster siblings are primarily viewed as income. But the boy has inner strength and a love for people and animals. Though a runaway at age twelve, he finds an open-minded benefactor, and when given a clue about the source of his unusual abilities, he sets off on an odyssey of sorts, taking with him the dog he has rescued as he searches for his biological father. Along the way he discovers who and what are truly important and finds direction for a productive life.