Ben Ohara, a struggling historian, is the sole surviving member of his family. Ben's younger brother, a troubled and brilliant astrophysicist, has mysteriously vanished in the Mojave Desert. Ben's father, one of the No-No Boys who refused to sign a government loyalty oath during the World War II internment of Japanese Americans, committed suicide when Ben was young. And his mother, who steadfastly refused to revisit the past, has died with her secrets.<BR>As Ben retraces his steps through a childhood colored by tough Chicago streets, horror movie monsters, sci-fi villains, Japanese folk tales, TV war heroes, and family tragedy, he comes to understand the profound personal reach of history. And on his journey to reconcile the past - leading ever closer to his brother's last days and the site of his father's internment - he will forge a path toward redemption, mapping the byways we all travel on the road toward forgiveness.