When a new friend comes to town who has had a hard life, Mateo longs to help him find peace and learn about real family. But as Kadak resists, Mateo has to learn how to be patient and let Kadak make his own choices. Meanwhile in school Mateo and his friends learn about science: creation and evolution and why people believe what they do. Then Mateo meets Zeb, a young man with a very different way of thinking. At first, he doesn't understand or like him. With the help of his friend Ellery, who's mind works in many ways similar to Zeb's, he learns to relate to autism in a world that doesn't yet know what it is. Through it all he learns to accept differences and make friends in ways he never expected.