In 1968, ten-year-old Bobby Reynolds spends his summer vacation with his pregnant sister, whose husband is in Vietnam. Far from home, it is a time for discovery. A time of innocence. And a personal awakening to the human condition, as he befriends two poverty-stricken youths, and witnesses first-hand the perils of cruelty and racism, at the hands of their guardian--Eli Paine. Eli, an abusive drunk, claims to be a disabled war veteran. But is he? When learning of his seedy past, Bobby and his young friends embark on a triumphant quest for truth, creating a close, magical bond that will last a lifetime.