Max Forrestal is going to fail biology if he doesn't complete a 20-page paper on extinction by 2pm on Tuesday, but his mother, Lily, is dying of cancer, and school is the last thing on his mind. His father, Ellery, a biologist obsessed with saving a rare Bolivian insect, is incapable of dealing with his wife's impending death, or his son's distress. Max's biology teacher, Khim Phan, tries to figure out why Max is failing the class. Helping Max, however, pushes Khim into a magical journey of his own, from the Cambodian fields of his youth into the undiscovered country beyond.