August Johnson had a quiet, penguin-pajama childhood until one of his fathers dies suddenly, following August’s sixth birthday. At the age of twelve, he’s sent away from home to live with his Great Aunt Myrtle, embarking on a six-year estrangement. August doesn’t talk about his childhood, until, aged eighteen, an unmarked letter in the mail arrives, telling of his surviving father’s sudden sickness and his seeking of his son. Finally, the parting of father and son begins to wane as the road unfolds before August and his spirited passenger—when the estranged will be reunited at last, and the truth of his father’s death unearthed.