Twelve-year-old Garson and his mom have moved to a new community. He hasn’t made friends and doesn’t fit in at school. Worse yet, his father has gone missing during combat operations in Afghanistan . Each day’s a struggle until a simple question he asks at the spring science fair sparks an interest in glaciers. He reads about them but can’t get enough.

     For his sixth-grade science project, he climbs to the Shining Mountain glacier in the wilderness not far from his home. A chance encounter with Buddy, a remarkable kid mountain goat, changes everything as these two kids’ lives become entwined. Their shared alarm over the Great Warming’s threat to the glacier, and to Buddy’s mountaintop home, transforms an introverted boy into an environmental advocate.

     Sometimes it takes a partnership to bring out the best in us.