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.
Fifth grader Robbie is determined to stay out of trouble so that she does not worry her grandfather whose memory is failing and to make sure that she and her grandfather stay together as he is the only family she has left.
Best friends Gabe and Oliver tackle family problems, bullying, and the challenge of dealing with the new kid in their sixth grade class, Reuben, who refuses to talk--and no one knows why.
