Fourteen-year-old Lori Hopkins, an only child, loses her parents to a devastating storm while she sleeps soundly in a fallout shelter she decorated for Christmas. Her grandmother, Lottie, discovers Lori as rescue workers sift through the above-ground carnage. Lori’s sudden loss of family leads to a life in harm's way as an acclaimed photojournalist to test out her own fate and destiny. Through her camera’s lens, she witnesses historic milestones in the United States and world stage that haunt her already damaged psyche. A series of adventures and misadventures follow her to the cultural cities of Europe, the jungles of Vietnam, the bustle of New York City, and Boston, and finally home in the wide plains of Texas. Lori’s personal relationships, a patchwork of disappointments and triumphs, shape her paramount journey to the truth.