With her first step off the airplane and into the sunny tropics, ten-year-old Jess McConnell begins an adventure. She and her parents are spending five months at an archeological dig of ancient Maya ruins in the Central American country of Belize. It's Jess's first time out of the United States. It's her first time being home-schooled. And it's her first trip without her older brother and sister to keep her company. Yet Jess is excited to explore a new place on her own. She's ready for adventure and anxious to discover just who she is. When Jess meets a new friend and is invited on an eco-adventure, she makes some real discoveries-about the wonders and the dangers of the Belizean jungle, about the people who have lived there since long ago, and about herself. The "True Story" section at the back of the book focuses on a girl from Florida who spends every summer in Belize with her archeologist parents.