After Charlie, a mentally handicapped man, agrees to have an experimental surgery that could reduce his handicap and increase his intelligence, Charlie discovers that happiness and abilities aren't necessarily connected.
The author explains what happened when she was on a training swim in the ocean off the coast of Santa Catalina Island when she suddenly realized a baby gray whale was swimming beside her. Seventeen at the time, Cox knew she must help the young calf find its mother because if it followed her to shore, it would die.
