A gun blast wakes Mandy one morning. Someone in her family is shooting crows again. To Mandy's father and older brothers. Crows are pests that have to be kept away from the farm's valuable strawberry crop. Even her younger brother, Drummer, can't wait until he's old enough to learn to shoot. So when Mandy finds the helpless bady crow in the woods, she feedsans tames her in secret.As mandy's bird grows, the wild crows try to lure her away. Knowing her crow must be free, but wanting to keep her as a pet, Mandy begins to realize that growing up is more complicated than she ever dreamed.