During the years after the Civil War, Lonely Cricket, a Native American boy, strives to learn his people's ways and traditions and to grow to manhood. This is a difficult task for any youngster, but Lonely Cricket is coming of age in a world that is changing. One in which Euro-Americans are determined to change Indians into reflections of the White world. Caught between the tales and traditions of his tribe and the ever-encroaching world of the White Man, Lonely Cricket must figure out how to live, whom to love, and most difficult of all who he really is. As Lonely Cricket battles to find himself, the twists and turns of his story reveal more about his background than he ever expected to know.