Entrenched secrets, mysterious spirits, and an astonishing friendship weave together in this extraordinary and haunting debut that "School Library Journal "calls "a powerful story about loss and moving on." "Nothing matters. Only Bird matters. And he flew away." Jewel never knew her brother Bird, but all her life she has lived in his shadow. Her parents blame Grandpa for the tragedy of their family's past: they say that Grandpa attracted a malevolent spirit--a duppy--into their home. Grandpa hasn't spoken a word since. Now Jewel is twelve, and she lives in a house full of secrets and impenetrable silence.

Jewel is sure that no one will ever love her like they loved Bird, until the night that she meets a mysterious boy in a tree. Grandpa is convinced that the boy is a duppy, but Jewel knows that he is something more. And that maybe--just maybe--the time has come to break through the stagnant silence of the past.