Brad and Sarah Stevenson are perfect parents. They live on a perfect street, in a wonderful world of green grass and sunshine. Their love for their daughter Zoey has led them to the latest parenting fad: Dr. Dean Bernard's DEATH AND THE MYSTERIES OF RAISING POWERFUL CHILDREN. After all, this New York Times bestseller is the talk of every book club across the country. The book's chapter on life and death lays out a "meaningful teaching ceremony" which includes the humane sacrifice of a dog, in the supportive company of family and friends. To her parents' chagrin, Zoey seems ambivalent, or even unwilling to participate in the ceremony, and when the Stevenson's dog-loving nieghbour, Pat Grayson, begins to obsess about stopping the ceremony altogether, he sets in motion a chain of events that will teach them all a profound lesson.