Whoever said life would be easy ... was a liar. A car wreck took away his father and his leg. But a year later, thirteen-year-old Joseph McKinnon has a mission and it begins with an underground construction project in the woods. Joe's relying on dad's buddy Fred to get the supplies he needs and to keep things secret from mom. Aside from that, Joe plans to finish the project alone-so he thinks. But help keeps knocking, people interfere, and the situation gets dangerous. If that's not enough, Joe must deliver two speeches in his language arts class and the only thing he fears more than public speaking is death-but there's no escaping the inevitable. Or is there? Accepting help from others wasn't part of the original plan. Neither was lying so much. And while there's no telling how deep his lies will go, he's definitely dug himself a hole ... twelve feet down.