She is the beloved, indomitable fifteen-year-old in Michael Dorris's bestselling novel for adults, A Yellow Raft in Blue Water. She returns, a year older but much wiser, in this year's critically acclaimed companion book, Cloud Chamber. Now, in his first contemporary novel for young readers, Michael Dorris introduces part black, part Indian Rayona Taylor as an eleven-year-old, and imagines the events and relationships that shaped this unforgettable young woman.When her mom's occasional hard nights away from home become more frequent, her mostly absent father decides Rayona needs a place to stay -- although not with him. A couple of under-the -table foster care placements later, he has no choice but to take her to stay with his mother, aunt, and grandmother in Kentucky, relatives Rayona has never met. The surprises that await her there lead Rayona to comment to herself, I'll never again be able to look out a small window and see my whole world from it....With humor and poignancy, Michael Dorris has written a jewel of a novel about betrayal, forgiveness, and the unbreakable bonds of family.