Max is used to spending time alone - it's difficult to make friends in a big, chaotic school when you're deaf. He prefers to give his attention to the little things in life... like making awesome, detailed replica models.
Then Mr Darrow, the school caretaker and fellow modeller, goes missing. Max must follow his parting instruction: 'Go to my room. You'll know what to do.'
There on the floor he finds a pile of sand ... and in the sand is Mr Darrow's latest creation... a tiny boy, no bigger than a raisin, Luke, Prince of the Blues. And behind the tiny boy... millions of others - a thriving, bustling, sprawling civilization!