It's 1963 in rural Massachusetts, and Nora James has the usual worries of an eleven year-old girl:lipstick, first crushes, staying out of trouble at school...not easy when your teacher is the elderly Sister Concilia. And even harder when your parents are struggling to heal from an almost unbearable loss. Then tragedy strikes another Massachusetts family, the Kennedys, and shatters the fragile bonds holding the James family together, Nora, sent to live with her brittle Aunt Rose, soon learns who she is, what she wants, and what she must do to achieve it. She makes a decision that is both cruel and courageous. Nora's choice unlocks the way to what amounts to the rescue of her family.