Ikarus Jackson, the new boy in school, is outcast because he has wings, but his resilient spirit inspires one girl to speak up for him and recognize his individuality.
Illustrations and poetic text describe the wings of an owl, a hummingbird, a butterfly, an eagle, a bat, and other creatures and their different experiences of flight.
When wings start to appear on her back, eleven-year-old Linnet begins to understand some of her mother's strange behavior, but it isn't until she finds herself at a remote house in Montana with others who also have--or had--wings that she can really come to terms with her situation.