Shadow is the first in a planned series of books on the enduring friendship of Danny Coulter and Isabelle Long. Danny Coulter narrowly missed being born in the smooth current of the Kiamichi River in southeastern Oklahoma. Some feared the river would still someday claim his life, but he brushed aside such notions with a child's sense of invincibility. Brave, spirited, tender-hearted Danny spends his childhood on the family ranch nurturing two great passions: drawing and Isabelle Long, the little girl who lived over the hill. Isabelle Long was deeply wounded when her mother abandoned her for a life singing with a honky-tonk band. Her father gives up his life on the rodeo circuit to care for Isabelle, remarries, and moves the family to the small town of Shadow, where Isabelle meets Danny, a boy she comes to consider her personal gift. With his compassionate soul and caring ways, Danny repairs some of the torn parts of her life. Danny and Isabelle begin a life-long love that isn't always on the same wavelength, but cannot be broken.