While still grieving for her mother and unable to accept her stepmother, a girl clings to the memories represented by forty-three buttons on a string.

When a young boy unexpectedly loses his mother, an invisible dragon swoops in and perches on top of his head. The boy wants the dragon to go away, but the dragon has plans of its own. It follows him to school, sleeps on his chest at night, and even crashes his birthday party. Yet as the boy comes to terms with his loss, his relationship with the dragon changes in surprising ways. --from Amazon.