The novel centers on Nainoa, the youngest son of Malia and Augie Flores, who possesses special healing powers. He is often referred to by his nickname, Noa. Nainoa excels at school and plays the ukulele like a seasoned musician. He is more sensitive than his older brother Dean, who is the jock of the family.

In fact, Noa’s empathic capabilities center his healing powers. When Nainoa touches an injured person or animal, he can feel their distressed organs crying out for healing. For example, when reviving a drug addict whose heart has stopped, Noa recalls, “I’d felt the addict’s body wanting to be repaired, and then the body had done just that, chased the overdose from its own blood and brain” (171).

However, being an empath takes its toll on Noa. The sick or dying people and animals he touches stay within him: “The more I understood what we were all made of, the more everyone I’d touched stayed inside me, still crying out, showing me their injuries over and over and over and over and over” (143). His healing also takes a physical toll, as he feels exhausted after each session. For instance, he describes how he felt after he revived a dead Labrador: “I wanted to call out to it, to ask the dog to stay, could I take it home, but exhaustion rolled over me so fast that I collapsed on my ass and fell over sideways onto the ground, closed my eyes” (145).