Cordelia Lu Hankins is half Caucasian, half Chineseand all albino. She's grown up isolated from the world, with her cold father and a giant stepmother named Babe (after Paul Bunyan's blue ox) in a remote lumber town in the Pacific Northwest. But in the summer of 1918, when she is 14, she meets the dashing Squirl. Squirl is charming, easygoing, and good-looking, and Cordy falls desperately in love with him. Her father forbids Cordy to go near Squirlwhich only makes him more attractive. One day they meet on the mountain and Cordy receives her first kiss, as well as a wild ride down a log flume that gets Squirl fired. Determined to follow Squirl, Cordy runs away and begins an exciting adventure that takes her to the sideshows of Seattle's Luna Park, where her unusual looks bring her fame. But her journey also brings tragedy, in this entertaining and thought-provoking coming-of-age novel.