twelve-year-old Namelok is thrilled when she finds a mother black rhino and her new baby in the bush while collecting firewood for her Maasai tribe. she vows to protect them, visit them, and—most important—keep them a secret so that poachers will not try to hurt them. but when her initiation into womanhood threatens her secret visits, Namelok must say good-bye to her beloved animal friends. before she can, though, she makes a horrifying discovery, one that sends her on a harrowing journey into the bush in a search for poachers, which soon becomes a desperate struggle for survival.