Fourteen-year-old Rick Walker is up against a judge who has had enough and Rick is headed to a six month sentence at Blue Canyon Youth Detention Center. After doing four and a half months of his time, he finds out his name is on the cigarettes which means he is about to be beaten, possibiy to death. If he wants to survive, Rick needs to run. His escape will lead him to the back of a truck and the truck will take him to canyonlands where he meets a scientist who is working with California condors. Rick's life is about to change in every way and that change will include having to face his own greatest fears.