At age 15, Shannon placed her baby boy for adoption at the insistence of her parents. Now she works as a social worker at a home for unwed mothers--a home that stresses the importance of choosing what's right for you and your baby.

We all assume that parents who want to adopt a child want the child.

One day a state trooper shows up at Shannon's workplace with a boy in custody--a boy who claims to be Shannon's biological son. Shannon learns that the family who adopted him cared more about drugs than they did about being parents and that his life has been a series of foster homes since.

Shannon would like nothing more than to take her son back, but since she voluntarily gave up her parental rights, she faces an uphill battle. The trooper impulsively offers to be a temporary foster parent for the boy--and the story takes off from there. ( )