Mai has it all figured out. This summer before seventh grade she is going to go to the beach everyday with her friend Montana and talk to HIM. That is until her parents throw the biggest monkey wrench into her fantastic plan. She is told that instead of living it up at the beach, she will accompany her grandmother Ba to her home country of Vietnam as she seeks answers about her husband's last days. Mai’s grandfather was captured during the Vietnam war and presumed dead. Ba wants closure and to finally accept that her husband has passed. Mai thinks it will be four days tops. Mai is oh so wrong and while she is there she has to deal with mosquitoes, pesky relatives, incessant eating, crazy translations and knowing that Montana will try to make a move on her crush in her absence. What is a girl to do?