Ben was not an ordinary six-year-old boy. He was much too small for his age, and he seemed to get along better with animals than with people. None of the people in North Corners knew quite what to make of him. Then one June day in 1870, Ben wandered away from his home on Hawk's Hill and disappeared without a trace into the waving prairie grass. How this shy, lonely boy survived most of a summer in the wilds by forging a bond with a female badger is a poignant story of human courage and change.