Jilly thinks she’s figured out how life works. But when her sister, Emma, is born Deaf, she realizes how much she still has to learn. The world is going to treat Jilly, who is white and hearing, differently from Emma, who is white and Deaf, just as it will treat them both differently from their Black cousins.

A big fantasy reader, Jilly makes a connection online with another fantasy fan, Derek, who is a Deaf, Black ASL (American Sign Language) user. She goes to Derek for help with Emma but doesn’t always know the best way or time to ask for it.

As she and Derek become friends, Jilly makes some mistakes. But eventually she comes to understand that it’s up to her, not Derek, to figure out how to do better next time.

In a world where kids like Derek and Emma aren’t assured the same freedom or safety as kids like Jilly, Jilly is starting to learn all the things she doesn’t know—and discovering how to better support her family and her friends.