When Amalee's grandmother dies, she inherits a very strange object: a huge champagne bottle filled with over a thousand dollars' worth of change. Amalee is told to spend the money on something important, so she decides to make a movie about endangered species. Soon there's as much going on behind the scenes as there is in front of the camera, as Amalee deals with a new friend, a very cute older boy, her wacky family friends, and a host of other challenges. She also discovers something she never expected to find -- a link with her mother, who disappeared and died when she was very little.

"Amalee's newfound filmmaking skills coincide with her emerging life skills, evident throughout in this very satisfying story." - School Library Journal

"...a treat to read." - The Horn Book

"Williams interweaves elements of environmental science, film production, first crushes and the very normal emotional growth of a tween's initial understanding of a mother's alcoholism and subsequent early demise...a multilayered work, offering a well-developed protagonist who has grown into a sincere, genuine, caring adolescent." - Kirkus Reviews