Ryan Anderson is one of the world's foremost experts. On loss and suffering. Having lost his only real friend and safe place in the world - his sister - he is desperate to find meaning. To find peace. To find a purpose. At the cusp of adulthood, perhaps there is now a way to find all of these things...by becoming a man. Surely manhood will bestow upon him some sense of stability and confidence. A reason to live. But what does it really mean to be a man? And how does one find the way to manhood when his whole world seems to shatter every time he takes a step forward? Could the U.S. Army be his way? Perhaps sex will prove his worth as a man. Maybe involvement in church life will make a difference. Surely a guy who delights in bringing joy to the hearts of children must be a real man. Walk with Ryan through his journey of pain, hope, despair, loss, and redemption as he discovers what it takes to forge the ashes of his charred life into solid manhood.