"Never underestimate the power of a boy and his dog." After moving into a rural Iowa City neighborhood called the Sand Road circa 1967-68, Jake, a fatherless young boy of 12, discovers a world seemingly turned against him and his destitute family. Finding himself alienated from his surroundings both inside and outside of the old grey house that becomes the family's home, Jake's future seems hopeless, miserable and bleak... until he meets Sam. Sam is a dog that has been given to Jake's family on a temporary basis that slowly becomes permanent, much to Jake's chagrin. Neither boy or dog can...