The summer of 1970 starts off badly for 13-year-old Maya. Her mother has sent her to Seattle to stay with the grandmother she's never met; her father is reported MIA in the jungles of Vietnam; and angry Maya's determined to get back home, even if it means running away. But slowly Maya begins to adjust, first befriending an autistic boy-and piano prodigy- living next door, and getting to know her grandmother. When Maya finds a trombone in the attic, she's mesmerized. She learns to play as her grandmother gradually unravels details of her past: Maya's grandfather was a famous jazz trombone player who died in a car crash, and her grandmother was a top jazz singer-who now only sings in church. Maya gradually adjusts to the prospect of life without her father, helps to mend mom's relationship with her grandmother, and takes the first steps to becoming an accomplished musician.