Sunny is a 13-year-old girl who lost her hearing at age 11 after a bout of meningitis. She talks normally, and her family is learning sign language - and she has a nutty school friend who was born deaf, and who can't talk. One day, she stumbles across a stray dog, who saves her from being run over. She wants to keep him, but her parents don't want a dog in the house. She rescues him from the pound where they send him, and comes up with the idea of having him trained as a hearing dog. This convinces her parents to allow him in the house, and she names him Ears.