Meet the “Nones,” a rapidly growing group of the religiously unaffiliated in America (so-called because they check the box that reads, essentially, “none of the above” when asked about their faith). While many Americans are raised in a religious tradition, recent decades have seen large numbers of families drift from their churches and synagogues, temples and mosques, and abandon faith-based practices. But what is lost with this exodus from organized religion?

Religion gives us a moral grounding and a sense of identity by connecting us to our past and creating tight communal bonds. It also makes us happier, healthier, and more giving. But without the one-stop shop of religion, how do the nonreligious fill the need for ritual, story, community, and, above all, purpose and meaning? With a quarter of Americans identifying as religiously unaffiliated, these questions have never been more urgent.

Katherine Ozment—writer, journalist, and mother of three—comes face-to-face with the fundamental issue of the Nones when her son asks her the simplest of questions: “What are we?” Unsettled by the only reply she could summon—“Nothing”—she sets out on a journey across the changing landscape of America to find a better answer.

Ozment visits diverse congregations, from an atheist church to a storytelling gathering to a nature-based coming-of-age ritual. She turns to science and the humanities, seeking guidance from noted scholars in a wide range of disciplines. She interviews community leaders and parents, and searches for meaning on mountaintops and in her own front yard. Along the way she shares how her family finds purpose and connection without the organizing principle of religion.