Ten-year-old Manami's life is upended when her Japanese American family is forced from their California home and sent to an internment camp during World War II. In her grief and fear during the journey, she secretly lets her beloved dog, Yujiin, out of his crate, an act she believes leads to him being left behind. At the bleak camp in the desert, Manami struggles with guilt, loss, and the harsh new reality, finding solace only in her drawings and the hope that her words might somehow reach her lost companion.