Thirteen-year-old Kati is sent to her godparent's house for the summer, while her parents decide if their marriage is worth saving. Unhappy over the prospect of being the child of a broken home, Kati is at first a reluctant guest of Alfred and Rachel Bean, deep in the Alabama countryside on the shores of Cove Lake. As Kati struggles for happiness and self-acceptance, she finds mystery, drama, and adventure - even a little romance. Her adventures begin the day she arrives, when she helps Alfred, a veterinarian, with a canine Caesarian section. She befriends Alex Parker, deaf from a skiing accident, whose mother, Cynthia, is overprotective as well as lonely. Her summer gets more complicated when she meets a half-Comanche agriculture pilot, 'Mad Jack, ' who enlists her help in renovating a World War II-era Stearman bi-plane. Then she finds herself falling for who she thinks is 'the perfect guy, ' the charming Skip Emmett. Kati takes on the role of mediator with Cynthia and Alex, and discovers she can make a difference somewhere in the world. Ultimately, she comes to terms with herself, her parents, her new and often confusing feelings for the opposite sex, and her newfound love of flying - in what is suddenly a too-brief summer.