The novel’s brief opening chapter recounts Jay’s visit to his father’s family in the Philippines at age 10. The family dog birthed a large litter, but one by one each died from the mother’s neglect. Jay embraces the last surviving puppy and attempts to feed it evaporated milk to keep it alive. It dies. The boy is devastated, but the family is indifferent: “Another day. Another dog” (xvi). Only Jay’s cousin Jun consoles him. Although only three days older than Jay, Jun “was one of those people who moved through the world as if he had been around for a long time” (xvii).

The narrative then advances back to Michigan, where Jay is a senior in high school. It is April, and Jay knows he should be more excited about going to the University of Michigan in the fall. As he hangs out with his friend Seth, skipping class and smoking a joint on the roof of the nearby elementary school, Jay admits to himself that he is drifting. He is unimpressed with the opportunity of college despite his family’s faith in the importance of education. His father is a first-generation Filipino immigrant who now works as a neonatal intensive care unit nurse.