In his previous eleven books, Dan wrote about adventures that were challenging and at times scary. Dan is now a freshman in high school, and has new experiences to share. You may remember his friend Beth, from Book 6, How Beth Wins the Gold, when she ran a great race with Dan in middle school. In this new adventure, Dan and Beth join a program with eight other students from various high schools in Minnesota. They travel to Italy to study art, architecture, history, and culture and religion. The group tours ancient sites during three weeks in Rome. In the final two weeks of their study-abroad program, they live at a Franciscan monastery in Assisi, studying the lives of Francesco di Pietro di Bernardone, who became Saint Francis and Chiara Offreduccio, who became Saint Clare. The lesson the students learn from these two saints is that their gift of self-sacrifice in helping those who are sick and less fortunate had the power to change the world.