Our main character suffers from a strange case of apathy, which has baffled doctors and caused his mother to adopt a method of teaching that allows her son what other children have learned for themselves: emotion. The entire book is a journey of his growth in the physical, emotional, and mental (the almond in his head) sense. It's a fresh perspective from someone who does not feel emotions in an environment which demands, and yet curiously, strives to be rid of it.