Eleven-year-old Kaden's only friend is Kubla, his pet crow. He lives with his Grandma in a cabin outside the small town of Promise. Starting middle school means Kaden's life will get a lot more complicated--but nothing in school could prepare him for the return of his long-incarcerated dad, whom he never knew. Kaden wonders if they will like each other. Then the offer of a new friendship opens up a brand new world to Kaden, one he isn't sure he wants to enter.