In 1954, eight-year-old Daniel Dorsey loses both parents in a car accident and is taken in by his large Irish-American family in Chicago. Living with his grandparents and surrounded by aunts, uncles and cousins, Daniel struggles with grief and the fear of being abandoned again. Over the next two years, family gatherings, school, neighbourhood adventures and the troubles of the adults around him gradually give him another chance at childhood and a sense of belonging.