To a thirteen-year-old Vermont farm boy whose father slaughters pigs for a living, maturity comes early as he learns "doing what's got to be done," especially regarding his pet pig who cannot produce a litter.
Jeff's mother, who deserted the family years before, reenters his life and widens the gap between Jeff and his father, a gap that only truth, love, and friendship can heal.
During a summer in Harlem, David relies on his mother and a close friend and on an old man he meets in the park to help him come to terms with his father's outbursts and unstable behavior.
After being a father figure for years, Jim and his younger brother are reunited with their divorced father and Jim is forced to find a new role for himself.
As a boy and his father walk in the woods near their home, they share what they know about the bark, leaves, and fruit of the different species they see.
Sebastian the turtle tells his father about all the jobs he might do when he grows up, from fireman to skydiver, and agrees that being a father might be the best of all.
At his drawing table on a rainy day, a boy imagines all the ways in which different things might grow up, and comes to the conclusion that he will grow up to be just like his dad.
