Eleven-year-old Ian and his Vietnam veteran father have been homeless for years, but now his father has found a perfect place for them -- an abandoned city courthouse with heat, plenty of bathrooms, and lots of exits and entrances.

Then, two things happen that threaten Ian's fragile security -- his father disappears, leaving Ian to fend for himself with the survival skills he's learned through the years, and Ian discovers that a local museum is mounting an exhibition of kites in the courthouse.

Suddenly, Ian's safe hideaway is filled with people -- and with extraordinary, beautiful kites that spark Ian's imagination and draw him out of his shadow existence. Will the kites be Ian's downfall -- or his salvation?