In the woods of a small Kentucky town, Aubrey sets off on a journey about growing up, self-discovery, and acceptance while searching for their missing best friend

Aubrey and Joel are like two tomato vines that grew along the same crooked fence—weird maybe, but the same kind of weird. Weird that goes perfectly together. Neither one of them feels much at home in their deeply Catholic small town, and they'd both much rather talk about different kinds of bugs and play pretend in the woods than climb the middle school popularity ladder. 

Lately though, fitting in has felt even harder than normal. Being a girl is feeling like a lie to Aubrey, and the class bully won't stop pushing Joel around, telling Joel that he's not "man" enough. That there must be something wrong with him. That he's different. 

Then Joel disappears. Vanishes. Poof. The whole town is looking for him, and Aubrey was the last person to see Joel. Aubrey's just as shocked as everyone else, but here’s what they know for sure: 

- Aubrey and Joel have been building a raft in the woods.
- The raft was just supposed to be a game. A "let's run away" game.
- Now the raft is gone too.

Aubrey doesn’t know where Joel is, but they might know how to find him. As Aubrey, their friend Mari, and their sister Teagan search along the river, Aubrey has to fess up to who they really are, all the things they never said, and the word that bully Rudy Thomas used that set all this into motion.