To Brendan, flying is not only a dream about his future, it's also an important connection to his past. Reading the half-filled pages of his deceased father's flight logbook, Brendan seeks to know a father who died too young, and to face a future that seems wrought with peril. If he realizes his dream of flight, Brendan believes he will also sever the abusive grip of his stepfather. When a precocious 11-year-old girl named Aria is thrust into his life, Brendan's world is turned upside down. Forced to work together after school, Aria's know-it-all personality runs head-first into Brendan's quiet resolve. But through the wisdom and insight of Mr. Washington, the school's janitor and former Tuskegee Airmen mechanic, the two eventually forge a friendship that they both desperately need.