Just how many homes and friends does a kid have to lose in twelve years? Driven from his neighborhood during the Chicago fire of 1871, Adrian and his parents move to the Michigan wilderness where his father lands a job at the sawmill. The town is called Singapore - as if a name could make a tiny spit of a town into a great seaport. Back in Chicago, it was easy to keep his hobby a secret, even from his father. But in this small town, will people discover who the true knitter of the family is? Only his best friend, big R.T., keeps him level. Adrian's attempts to protect his new - and first - girlfriend, Elizabeth, from the school bully seem to backfire, especially when he hears Jake's big brother, Otto the Monster, is heading to town. Then, just as Adrian starts to feel that Singapore is his home, he discovers the moving sand dunes along the Lake Michigan shore are slowly burying his town. He tries to stop it, but how can he fight both man and nature?