Teenaged Lark is filled with boundless compassion and tenderness for her younger brother Termite, who cannot walk or talk. Nine years earlier and half a world away, Termite's father faced the haunting specter of the Korean War. Now, with their mother absent, the children live with their Aunt Nonie and struggle to make ends meet. Yet Lark and Termite persevere, strip away layers of their family's mysterious past, and courageously move toward an uncertain future.