14-year-old Mackenzie is sent by her mom from her home in Seattle to
spend the summer with her uncle in Juneau, Alaska. His kindness is
almost overwhelming as he welcomes her into his Juneau, Alaska home but
still a foreboding hangs over the home and their relationship. Mackenzie
longs for her struggling absent mother. As her mom's phone calls become
less frequent and her Uncle's care becomes anything but caring, she
must flee. With no one to turn to, Mackenzie runs away after a hike
around a local Juneau glacier. On her own and haunted by desperate phone
calls and text messages from her Uncle, Mackenzie escapes into the town
of Juneau which she soon discovers is not an easy place to escape being
cut off from everywhere by the sea and mountains.
Seeking a way back to Seattle, Mackenzie encounters Rene Bartlett
while hiding out at a motel. He is gruff and keeps to himself and wants
nothing more than to be on his own. Learning that Bartlett is also from
Seattle, Mackenzie secretly follows him in hopes of getting home to
Washington. But Bartlett is not headed home. Kenzie tracks Bartlett for
many hours and miles onto a ferryboat, up the coast, through Anchorage
into the Alaska interior, finally arriving at Denali National Park.
