Unlike her adventurous orinthologist mother, shy eleven-year-old Loah prefers a quiet life at home with no surprises until her mother's expedition to the Arctic tundra to study birds turns dangerous and Loah, alone at home, discovers her own courage.

"A red oak tree and a crow help their human neighbors work out their differences"-- An old red oak tree tells how he and his crow friend, Bongo, help their human neighbors get along after a threat against an immigrant family is carved into the tree's trunk.