Disobedience, stealing, spitting, running away, throwing stones, kicking, arson, graffiti: these are all crimes committed by young outsider Ricky Baker, a self-proclaimed gangster. Until now, he’s moved from foster family to foster family, this is his last chance before he lands in a juvenile detention facility.

"You can go anywhere in the world, to any place, if you can read a map." Michael has been interested in maps from an early age. He used to puzzle them as a child, others were measured and pointed to the north. Meanwhile, his whole room is full of them. Even the walls are decorated with maps high up to the ceiling. Still now, at the age of 16, they constitute his favourite pastime.

After a fall while rollerblading, Kirk is hospitalised. During examinations, it turns out that the 17-year-old is suffering from bone cancer. He meets Marty, who is suffering from leukaemia, and a friendship develops between the two.

The Maori girl Paikea wants to be the successor to the legendary tribal founder who once came to New Zealand from Hawaii on the back of a whale. Her grandfather Koro, the current head of the tribe, does not believe in his granddaughter’s ambitions, which are contrary to tradition.