"Nia Imani is a woman out of place and outside of time. Decades of travel through the stars are condensed into mere months for her, though the years continue to march steadily onward for everyone she has ever known. Her friends and lovers have aged past her, and all she has left is work. Alone and adrift, she lives for only the next paycheck, until the day she meets a mysterious boy, fallen from the sky. A boy, broken by his past. The scarred child...

After a duck helps ten-year-old Shady Cook, who has selective mutism, to gain confidence, he and his best friend, Pouya, bring the emotional support duck to school to help the many underdogs there. Includes author's note about selective mutism.