It's the most embarrassing moment in Wendy Hansen's life. As she steps into a classroom filled with strangers, everyone burst out laughing. Even the teacher doesn't know what to think of the stoic arrival. After all, how many students show up at a new school with a duck held tightly in their arms?

But one person in the room isn't laughing. Through eyes familiar with pain and self-consciousness, a thin, gaunt girl suddenly sees someone with whom she can relate. So begins a friendship that will become far more than casual. In the weeks to follow, it will become a matter of life and death.

Welcome to planet of joy. Master storyteller Charles Mills introduces you to a cast of characters new to the shadow Creek Ranch gang, people young and old who will lift your spirits and take you on a journey you will not soon forget. This book is for anyone who is ever lost hope or long for a heaven that seems so far away.