Set in Belize, this book is the record of a few months in the life of Beka and her family. The story is built around Beka's victory over her habit of lying and her relationship with her friend Toycie. The politics of the colony and the presence of the Catholic Church are featured.

A settlement established by shipwrecked English sailors in 1683, Belize is now a country of wildlife refuges and spectacular snorkling reefs. Conroy vividly and hilariously recounts his adventures in a very different Belize.