On his sixteenth birthday, Cameron's life changes irrevocably. Many people see the signs but ignore them. Dr. Penny Corrigan gives Cameron a lifeline, but it is fleeting and evaporates. Cameron's mother, Genevieve, and his father, Jack, do their best, but succumb to a 'silver tongue'. Two teachers, Mr. Caledane and Mr. Johnston-Harper, inspire and challenge him. An Indigenous boy, Rick, stands shoulder to shoulder with Cameron and teaches him a 'totem word'. Others obfuscate deliberately and exacerbate situations. A false façade disguises real feelings.

How this all plays out in the small wheatbelt towns of Northam, Korrelocking, and Wyalkatchem, in Western Australia, is the story of Cameron and Rick.