After Michelle emigrates to the U.S. from the tight-knit ethnic Chinese enclave in Incheon, South Korea, she must adapt quickly to survive. With a dominant, impulsive father in charge-who protects the family from everyone but himself-and a mother who never finds her power, Michelle craves safety and security.

Like tumbleweeds, Michelle and her family bump across the country in a Ford Dixie van before settling in Phoenix, Arizona. Working at their family-owned Chinese takeout restaurant by age 12, Michelle drowns in pressures beyond her age.

Ultimately, Michelle finds love, not only the romantic kind, but an enduring self-love, which allows her to heal, to never give up, and to thrive while successfully managing what later becomes a bipolar 1 diagnosis.