Holland Adams feels completely isolated at her new high school in Holbrook, Arizona, as part of the white minority. Most students at Holbrook High come from the nearby Navajo reservation, and many spend the week in the adjacent dormitory.

Holland knows nothing about Navajo culture, but when she sees a Navajo man smiling at the sight of a horrific train crash, she is shocked and intrigued. Holland, who is struggling to cope with her own loneliness and her mother's debilitating depression, doesn't understand what is going on.

Fascinated, Holland turns to fellow high school student Lawrence Yellowhair to be her guide to Navajo culture. One of the boarders from the reservation, Lawrence is brilliant and ambitious, two qualities Holland finds highly attractive-but she's not the only one. Melody Begaye, another boarder, has spent her whole life loving Lawrence, and she isn't about to be supplanted by a newcomer.

As the three teenagers deal with a myriad of family issues, including depression, chronic illness, and alcoholism, they learn more about one another and their unique perspectives. Will a new outlook on life and a potential new love allow Holland to finally feel at home?