Eleven-year-old Cyrus knows he is not cut out to be a football hero or fireman like his adopted father, but it takes a skittish stray dog to teach him that he, too, can be brave.

Fertig tells the inspiring, heartbreaking stories of three young people as they struggle to learn to read before it is too late. At the same time, the author tells a story of great change in schools as teachers and parents question the meaning of education as never before.