"My people believe that wearing Azurite can heal the damaged soul." Desiree Sumner needs massive healing when she enters high school. Her parents' separation and the death of her beloved grandfather throw her life into upheaval. She loses most of her interests and falls into a hazy kaleidoscope of daydreams. By her senior year, she's begun to heal when she learns of geology field trip to the Grand Canyon-an adventure she and her grandfather had intended to have someday. Their geology teacher mysteriously omits the camp's location from the permission slip and is oddly secretive about the real purpose for this annual trip. When the class finally arrives at the canyon, they are met with warm rains and a record snowmelt that causes the canyon waterways to overflow. The rising waters cut Desiree off from her group, and she encounters the forces of the Grand Canyon, the most frightening thing that's ever happened to her. Will she be able to escape with her life?