Thirteen-year-old Sam Hill lives in the shadow of his outgoing, girl-hugging, infuriating twin, Jacob, who also happens to have Down syndrome. To make matters worse, the Hills live on the mountain overlooking Santa Barbara, far from Sam’s school and friends. His one passion is soccer, and while out training on the mountain one evening, he witnesses an arsonist fleeing the scene of a fire. His early warning helps the clear the mountain, but the fire burns down into the town, and hundreds of homes and four lives are lost. The day after the fire, in a chance encounter, the arsonist threatens to harm Jacob if Sam should tell anyone what he’s seen. As Sam pays more attention to Jacob in his efforts to protect him, his frosty feelings towards Jacob thaw, and he sees how they complement one another. Unfortunately for Sam, he has a history of playing with matches and becomes the top suspect of the police. In order to protect his brother, and under increasing pressure from the arsonist, Sam is forced to confess to the crime. As events begin to spin out of control for the true fire starter, he seeks out the twins to silence them forever. Sam must use all his wits and reserves of strength to protect Jacob in the ultimate trial by fire.
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