Six year old Parker Rosewood lives in the dry desert valley of Southern California's Inland Empire with his parents, Karl and Sareena, and his half brother, Max. The year is 1999. As the rest of the world teeters on the brink of widespread panic over the looming Y2K scare, the Rosewoods are enjoying the spoils of their successful barbeque business. At the start of summer break, little Parker begins to suspect that the many unfortunate mishaps he has experienced over the years cannot all be blamed on clumsiness. He is convinced a black cloud of bad luck is hanging over his head. When he learns that acorns may hold the cure to his unluckiness, he obsesses over finding them. After experiencing more episodes of injuries and misfortune, a devastating fire, and a serious illness in his family, he finds himself in a precarious situation leading to his rescue. This sets off a series of interactions with the neighborhood cranky old man, Earl Vickers, whose previous run-ins with Parker have not been friendly. Parker soon learns that Mr. Vickers also once believed in good luck charms and a friendship slowly grows between them. Parker begins to question his own feelings of despair as he discovers through Mr. Vickers' life story that his problems are not as bad as he thought. Both heartwarming and heartbreaking, If Only Luck Grew on Trees charts the journey from a child's perspective of an adventurous boy who loses his happiness, but finds it once again in the most unlikely way.