Maggie has a stutter, and she's very embarrassed by it. Desperate to avoid speaking, a self-inflicted injury sends her to the countryside to live with her grandfather as one last ditch effort to get her to speak before she is institutionalized. There, she grows to love a local forest and the animals nearby, and to learn to trust herself. At the same time, she meets a mysterious snow leopard in the forest. He shouldn't be there. Where did he come from, and where does he belong?

I enjoyed this story a lot about a girl finding her voice and speaking up for animals. I will say that there's are scenes of animal cruelty I found a bit hard to read. Others' mileage may vary.