Rose Wallace and her family spend their summers at the beach town of Awago every year. This year, however, is different. As is the case every year, Rose meets up with her summer friend Windy, whom she considers to be the sister she never had, in Awago. As per usual, the girls are inseparable and do anything and everything together.
Their summer begins as it normally does: with cook-outs, movie nights, exploration, and trips to the beach. The girls also discuss their growing interest in boys. Rose, in particular, develops a crush a Duncan, a teenager who works at the local video store.
Rose's crush on Duncan quickly grows, and she and Windy begin to spend more time at the video store. There, they are introduced to a whole new set of things, including curse words and sexual concepts that they had never thought of. As a result of hearing these things, the two friends wonder what will happen in their futures.
Meanwhile, Rose deals with tremendous turmoil at home. Her mother battles depression; her father leaves for days at a time because of arguments.
The girls also deal with quite a few local issues, including Duncan's girlfriend Jenny being pregnant, drama, substance abuse issues, and fertility issues. One of the books final moments, in fact, involves Rose's mother saving a drunk teenager who is drowning - all while suffering a miscarriage.
