Franco is three when the book starts. He has a mild form of cerebral palsy but, his parents don't have the patients or resources to take care of his or his siblings' needs. They grow up in foster care, where they are sexually abused by their foster dad and foster uncle. During the course of the book, he and his younger siblings are sent back and forth from Lincoln Nebraska to Mexico to visit their father, which was deported. As time goes on, he deals with a death of a sibling, low self-esteem and abandonment issues. Is this all life had to offer Franco? Or does life have better things in store for Franco and his younger siblings?