Fifteen-year-old Miranda is not sure how things will turn out when she travels with her father and stepmother to Florida to visit her grandmother. Her father and her grandmother haven't spoken in 10 years, and Miranda is surprised and delighted to meet lively Grandma Lila. As the summer progresses, Miranda discovers new depths to herself as she learns more about the wildlife of the marsh that her grandmother fiercely protects, and delights in the magic of the marsh with every click of her camera. As she gets to know Adam, part Cherokee, along the way, she begins to understand Adam and his belief in the spirit world.

But when a sudden turn of events in her family raises questions about who Adam really is, Miranda, the perfect daughter, finds that she has to take a stand. Miranda discovers that her new view of the world opens up both beauty and pain as she turns her focus from the marsh to her own life and her family's past.